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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. object — a thing
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. object — an aim
  5. clip — to cut
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. spell — a short time
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. clip — a video
  11. spell — magic
  12. cold — not warm
  13. clip — for paper
  14. sharp — clever
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. spell — letters
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. shower — to wash
  21. object — to protest
  22. shower — rain
  23. cold — an illness
  24. racket — for tennis

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