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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 120 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 newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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. foot — the bottom
  4. plane — a tool
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. foot — a measure
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. kid — child
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. clip — a video
  11. net — after costs
  12. mine — for digging
  13. net — in sport
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — certain
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. bound — tied together
  20. clip — for paper
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. net — for catching
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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