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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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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. saw — the tool
  7. capital — a city
  8. kid — child
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. saw — the tool
  12. drill — a practice
  13. plane — a tool
  14. clip — a video
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — army training
  20. clip — for paper
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. pound — a weight
  23. capital — money
  24. bay — a horse colour

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