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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 124 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.

Make a worksheet

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
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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: date · wake · bat · kick · cap · net · ground · clip

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. cap — a hat
  4. clip — a video
  5. ground — the earth
  6. date — the fruit
  7. net — in sport
  8. cap — a lid
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. clip — for paper
  11. net — for catching
  12. kick — in football
  13. wake — a trail
  14. bat — the animal
  15. ground — a position
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. cap — of ice
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. clip — to cut
  23. ground — crushed
  24. net — after costs

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