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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. saw — the tool
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. stand — to bear
  6. ground — a position
  7. spell — magic
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. clip — for paper
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. clip — a video
  14. ground — crushed
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. spell — a short time
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. clip — to cut
  22. spell — letters
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. ground — the earth

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