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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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. fork — in a road
  3. stand — to bear
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. rash — hasty
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. game — wild animals
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bat — the animal
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. game — a match
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. clip — a video
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. rash — a series
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. clip — for paper
  24. straw — dry grass

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