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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. spell — a short time
  3. chair — a leader
  4. last — finally
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. clip — a video
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. spell — letters
  12. bat — the animal
  13. clip — to cut
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. spell — magic
  16. chip — to eat
  17. chip — for betting
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. hand — in cards
  20. clip — for paper
  21. last — final
  22. hand — help
  23. last — to go on
  24. chip — in a computer

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