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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. file — a line of people
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. cap — a hat
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. clip — a video
  13. rush — hurry
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. file — a tool
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. clip — to cut
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. clip — for paper
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. cap — a lid
  24. file — a document

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