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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. rash — a series
  3. rash — hasty
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. clip — to cut
  6. rule — government
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. season — in sport
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. kid — to tease
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. bat — the animal
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. season — of the year
  17. clip — a video
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cell — in biology
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. cell — a phone
  23. rule — a law
  24. clip — for paper

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