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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. bark — to shout
  10. kid — child
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. kid — to tease
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. scale — in music
  18. clip — for paper

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