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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. mug — a face
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. plane — a tool
  6. mug — a cup
  7. cold — an illness
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. cold — not warm
  13. mug — to rob
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. stem — to come from
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. bat — the animal
  23. clip — for paper
  24. coach — a trainer

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