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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. last — final
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. last — to go on
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. ball — a great time
  10. press — to push
  11. season — of the year
  12. press — a publisher
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. suit — to fit
  16. ball — a dance
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. suit — clothes
  19. press — newspapers
  20. clip — a video
  21. suit — in cards
  22. clip — to cut
  23. last — finally
  24. season — in sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com