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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. clip — for paper
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. chest — a box
  8. clip — a video
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. kick — in football
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — the tool
  18. spring — the season
  19. clip — to cut
  20. chest — of your body
  21. spring — a coil
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. spring — of water

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