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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. hand — help
  3. rock — a stone
  4. clip — for paper
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — in cards
  7. rock — music
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. roll — a list
  10. fall — to drop
  11. press — to push
  12. roll — a cake
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. wound — an injury
  16. clip — a video
  17. fall — to drop
  18. wound — an injury
  19. kid — to tease
  20. press — a publisher
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. press — newspapers
  23. clip — to cut
  24. fall — the season

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