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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. cell — in biology
  3. clip — a video
  4. wound — an injury
  5. chest — of your body
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. shower — to wash
  11. season — of the year
  12. wound — an injury
  13. shower — rain
  14. clip — for paper
  15. chest — a box
  16. bulb — for light
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cell — a phone
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. chest — of your body
  22. season — in sport
  23. bulb — for light
  24. cell — in a prison

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