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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: club · rest · racket · bat · cell · clip · foot · face

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. club — for golf
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cell — a phone
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. cell — in biology
  8. rest — what's left
  9. face — to confront
  10. face — part of the head
  11. foot — a measure
  12. club — a group
  13. rest — what's left
  14. clip — a video
  15. club — for dancing
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. clip — to cut
  19. face — to point toward
  20. rest — a break
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. foot — part of the body

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