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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. track — a path
  4. clip — to cut
  5. cue — for pool
  6. kid — to tease
  7. capital — a city
  8. cue — a hint
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. rest — what's left
  11. clip — a video
  12. track — to keep track
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. mug — a face
  15. kid — child
  16. cue — a signal
  17. mug — a cup
  18. rest — a break
  19. bulb — for light
  20. track — a song
  21. mug — to rob
  22. rest — what's left
  23. capital — money
  24. bulb — for light

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