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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  18. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. pitch — completely
  5. hand — in cards
  6. spring — a coil
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. clip — a video
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. spring — the season
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — to cut
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. scale — size or range
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. spring — of water
  21. scale — in music
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. hand — part of the body

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