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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. last — finally
  3. bound — tied together
  4. last — final
  5. clip — a video
  6. field — a subject
  7. rest — what's left
  8. field — farmland
  9. net — in sport
  10. net — after costs
  11. bound — obliged
  12. rest — a break
  13. bound — certain
  14. rest — what's left
  15. net — for catching
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. field — for sport
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. clip — to cut
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. last — to go on
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. clip — for paper
  24. racket — for tennis

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