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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: net · game · clip · cap · shower · bear · date · chair

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. date — the fruit
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. cap — a hat
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. shower — to wash
  10. net — in sport
  11. game — wild animals
  12. bear — the animal
  13. cap — of ice
  14. chair — a leader
  15. bear — the animal
  16. clip — for paper
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. net — for catching
  19. cap — a lid
  20. net — after costs
  21. game — a match
  22. clip — a video
  23. shower — rain
  24. game — a kind of play

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