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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: clip · mug · face · band · fan · bat · safe · cold

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. clip — to cut
  5. mug — to rob
  6. cold — not warm
  7. face — to point toward
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. band — a ring
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — for paper
  13. mug — a face
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. cold — an illness
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. face — to confront
  19. band — a music group
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. face — part of the head
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mug — a cup

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