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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 got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. clip — for paper
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. ground — the earth
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. fine — all right
  10. cold — an illness
  11. ground — crushed
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cell — in biology
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cold — not warm
  18. clip — to cut
  19. hand — in cards
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. ground — a position
  22. hand — help
  23. clip — a video
  24. fine — high quality

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