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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. clip — for paper
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. saw — the tool
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. clip — a video
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. clip — to cut
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. rock — music
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wake — a trail
  17. degree — from a university
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. saw — the tool
  20. degree — temperature
  21. chest — of your body
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. rock — a stone
  24. degree — an amount

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