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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. bat — the animal
  4. tube — the underground
  5. clip — to cut
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. pitch — completely
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. chair — a leader
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. foot — a measure
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. bark — to shout
  21. clip — a video
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. pound — a weight
  24. tube — a container

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