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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. net — in sport
  3. saw — the tool
  4. season — of the year
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. tube — the underground
  7. season — in sport
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. clip — a video
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. saw — the tool
  12. track — to keep track
  13. track — a path
  14. bat — the animal
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. track — a song
  18. clip — for paper
  19. tube — a container
  20. net — after costs
  21. net — for catching
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. season — to add flavour

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