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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 120 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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. clip — a video
  3. wax — to grow
  4. cold — not warm
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. clip — to cut
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. key — the most important part
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. ball — a dance
  15. stand — to bear
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. key — in music
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. key — for a lock
  20. cold — an illness
  21. clip — for paper
  22. pitch — completely
  23. ball — a great time
  24. wax — for sculpting

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