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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  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 — to cut
  2. wind — moving air
  3. kid — to tease
  4. chest — a box
  5. clip — a video
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. clip — for paper
  8. perch — the fish
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. chest — of your body
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. bulb — for light
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. wind — moving air
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. kid — child
  23. perch — for a bird
  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