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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. land — a country
  3. clip — for paper
  4. cue — a hint
  5. object — to protest
  6. cue — a signal
  7. season — of the year
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cue — for pool
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. land — ground
  12. object — an aim
  13. object — a thing
  14. cell — in biology
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. season — in sport
  21. land — to come down
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. cell — a phone
  24. leaves — to go away

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