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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. lie — to recline
  3. clip — a video
  4. rest — a break
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. band — a ring
  8. scale — size or range
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. degree — from a university
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. rest — what's left
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. band — a music group
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — for paper
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. degree — temperature
  21. scale — in music
  22. degree — an amount
  23. rest — what's left
  24. pitcher — a jug

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