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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. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. scale — size or range
  4. rush — hurry
  5. plane — a tool
  6. clip — a video
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. cell — in biology
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. lean — thin
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. lean — to bend
  17. lie — to recline
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. scale — in music
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. cold — not warm
  23. clip — for paper
  24. cold — an illness

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