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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. clip — for paper
  4. game — a match
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bat — the animal
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. last — finally
  10. game — wild animals
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. last — to go on
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. season — of the year
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. clip — a video
  22. last — final
  23. clip — to cut
  24. season — in sport

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