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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 120 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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. clip — to cut
  3. squash — to crush
  4. foot — a measure
  5. bat — the animal
  6. land — ground
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. saw — the tool
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. land — a country
  14. land — to come down
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bore — to tire
  17. clip — a video
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. saw — the tool
  20. bore — to drill
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. foot — part of the body

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