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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 116 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. cell — a phone
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. object — an aim
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. wound — an injury
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. clip — for paper
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. season — in sport
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. object — to protest
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. cell — in biology
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. season — of the year
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — the animal
  23. object — a thing
  24. cell — in a prison

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