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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. pit — a hole
  3. clip — for paper
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. pass — a permit
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. pit — in a race
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bat — the animal
  11. clip — a video
  12. rock — music
  13. tube — a container
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. tube — the underground
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. kid — to tease
  21. rock — a stone
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bark — to shout

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