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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 116 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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. net — after costs
  4. file — a tool
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. mark — a grade
  7. hand — help
  8. net — in sport
  9. hand — in cards
  10. mug — a face
  11. clip — to cut
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. mark — a trace
  16. mug — a cup
  17. mug — to rob
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. clip — a video
  20. net — for catching
  21. file — a document
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. chair — a leader
  24. file — a line of people

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