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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. clip — for paper
  3. cell — in biology
  4. hand — help
  5. wound — an injury
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — a video
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. saw — the tool
  13. cell — a phone
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. cap — a lid
  17. hand — in cards
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. cap — of ice
  20. fine — high quality
  21. fine — all right
  22. cap — a hat
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. saw — the tool

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