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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 124 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. spell — magic
  4. clip — a video
  5. cold — not warm
  6. spell — a short time
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. bulb — for light
  9. bulb — for light
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. cold — an illness
  14. scale — in music
  15. spell — letters
  16. scale — size or range
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — the animal
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. clip — for paper
  24. fan — a supporter

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