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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 teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cell — in biology
  4. mine — for digging
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. clip — a video
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. ball — a great time
  13. roll — a cake
  14. ball — a dance
  15. march — the month
  16. season — of the year
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. march — music
  19. kid — child
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. season — in sport
  23. march — the month
  24. mine — an explosive

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