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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — to tease
  4. pop — music
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. clip — a video
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. bat — the animal
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. pass — a permit
  14. content — happy
  15. content — the amount
  16. key — for a lock
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. pop — soda
  20. key — in music
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. clip — to cut
  23. key — the most important part
  24. pop — to visit

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