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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. lean — thin
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. drill — a practice
  5. cap — a lid
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. rest — what's left
  8. cap — of ice
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. cap — a hat
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. lean — to bend
  13. drill — the tool
  14. rash — a series
  15. drill — army training
  16. rash — hasty
  17. rest — a break
  18. bat — the animal
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bowl — a football final

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