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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's one o'clock ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. tube — a container
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. capital — a city
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. kid — child
  10. clip — for paper
  11. sharp — clever
  12. tube — the underground
  13. capital — money
  14. clip — a video
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. perch — the fish
  19. clip — to cut
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. kid — to tease
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. bowl — to roll

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