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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.

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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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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: cell · sharp · season · object · bat · kid · cap · clip

  1. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. cap — a hat
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. cell — a phone
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. cell — in biology
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. clip — a video
  11. sharp — clever
  12. object — an aim
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — to tease
  15. clip — for paper
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. bat — the animal
  18. cap — of ice
  19. cap — a lid
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. season — of the year
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. object — to protest
  24. season — in sport

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