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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. clip — a video
  4. saw — the tool
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. mug — to rob
  8. mug — a cup
  9. saw — the tool
  10. wound — an injury
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. rash — a series
  13. wound — an injury
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. clip — to cut
  16. pound — a weight
  17. mug — a face
  18. rash — hasty

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