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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. cell — a phone
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. sharp — clever
  5. ground — the earth
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. wind — moving air
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — a video
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. root — of a word
  12. ground — a position
  13. cell — in biology
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. root — the cause
  16. ground — crushed
  17. bear — the animal
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. bear — the animal
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. wind — moving air
  22. root — of a plant
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. coach — a trainer

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