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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. file — a tool
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — to cut
  6. track — a path
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. snap — to click
  12. track — to keep track
  13. file — a line of people
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. track — a song
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. ball — a great time
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. clip — for paper
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. file — a document
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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