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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. clip — a video
  3. net — in sport
  4. clip — to cut
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. spring — a coil
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. clip — for paper
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bat — the animal
  15. spring — of water
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. spring — the season
  18. net — after costs
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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