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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. bat — the animal
  3. net — in sport
  4. tear — from crying
  5. clip — for paper
  6. net — after costs
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. face — part of the head
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. mug — a cup
  12. clip — to cut
  13. tear — to rip
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. face — to confront
  16. sharp — clever
  17. board — a committee
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. net — for catching
  20. board — to get on
  21. clip — a video
  22. face — to point toward
  23. mug — to rob
  24. tear — from crying

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