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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. clip — a video
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. clip — to cut
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. saw — the tool
  10. spring — a coil
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. spring — of water
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — the animal
  15. clip — for paper
  16. squash — to crush
  17. rule — government
  18. pitch — completely
  19. saw — the tool
  20. spring — the season
  21. kid — child
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. kid — to tease
  24. rule — a law

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