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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — a video
  3. ball — a great time
  4. game — a match
  5. wound — an injury
  6. rest — what's left
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. dip — to sink
  10. rest — a break
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. ball — a dance
  13. wound — an injury
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. rest — what's left
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. game — wild animals
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — the animal
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. clip — to cut

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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