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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 116 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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468
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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pound — a weight
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — for paper
  8. kick — in football
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. clip — to cut
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. kid — child
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. craft — boats
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. craft — a skill
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. kid — to tease

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