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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. clip — for paper
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. pit — in a race
  10. squash — the sport
  11. pit — a hole
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bank — for money
  14. prune — to trim
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. cold — not warm
  17. clip — a video
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. squash — to crush
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bank — of a river
  23. bank — for money
  24. prune — the fruit

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