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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. clip — for paper
  5. tube — a container
  6. saw — the tool
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. fall — to drop
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. kid — to tease
  13. pitch — completely
  14. lean — thin
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. fall — the season
  19. kid — child
  20. lean — to bend
  21. bat — the animal
  22. clip — a video
  23. fall — to drop
  24. saw — the tool

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