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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 124 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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. clip — for paper
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. hand — help
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. cold — an illness
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. spell — magic
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. hand — in cards
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. lean — to bend
  15. spell — letters
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. clip — a video
  18. spell — a short time
  19. clip — to cut
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. lean — thin

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