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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. saw — the tool
  3. cap — a hat
  4. wake — a trail
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. cap — of ice
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. season — of the year
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. last — final
  12. season — in sport
  13. last — finally
  14. bat — the animal
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. last — to go on
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. saw — the tool
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — a video

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