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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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. stand — on your feet
  4. mug — a cup
  5. mug — a face
  6. race — humankind
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. squash — to crush
  9. stand — to bear
  10. court — of a king
  11. race — the arms race
  12. clip — to cut
  13. squash — the sport
  14. court — for sport
  15. file — a tool
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a line of people
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. mug — to rob
  22. court — of law
  23. race — a contest
  24. squash — the vegetable

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