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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. root — of a plant
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. season — in sport
  7. cap — a hat
  8. clip — a video
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. clip — for paper
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. kid — to tease
  16. clip — to cut
  17. root — the cause
  18. pound — a weight
  19. cap — of ice
  20. root — of a word
  21. mine — for digging
  22. branch — a division
  23. season — of the year
  24. cap — a lid

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