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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. last — to go on
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. last — finally
  8. club — for golf
  9. saw — the tool
  10. last — final
  11. club — a group
  12. kid — child
  13. perch — the fish
  14. clip — a video
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. clip — to cut
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — in music
  19. clip — for paper
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. saw — the tool
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. club — for dancing

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