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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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. racket — for tennis
  2. spring — a coil
  3. cell — in biology
  4. shower — rain
  5. shower — to wash
  6. rock — music
  7. clip — for paper
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. spring — the season
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. cell — a phone
  12. last — to go on
  13. last — final
  14. spring — of water
  15. last — finally
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cap — a hat
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. cap — a lid
  21. cap — of ice
  22. rock — a stone
  23. clip — a video
  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