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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 120 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 refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. clip — a video
  5. mug — a face
  6. cold — an illness
  7. clip — for paper
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. swing — in golf
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mug — to rob
  12. swing — music
  13. clip — to cut
  14. tear — from crying
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. sharp — clever
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. swing — to play on
  20. bore — to drill
  21. tear — to rip
  22. tear — from crying
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. bore — to tire

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