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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.

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: file · cell · bat · clip · charge · hand · dip · toast

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. file — a tool
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. cell — a phone
  7. clip — to cut
  8. charge — a price
  9. cell — in biology
  10. clip — for paper
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. file — a line of people
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. hand — in cards
  16. file — a document
  17. charge — in control
  18. hand — help
  19. toast — bread
  20. dip — to sink
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. clip — a video
  24. charge — electricity

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