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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. kid — to tease
  4. clip — a video
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. present — a gift
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. plane — a tool
  9. track — to keep track
  10. present — the time now
  11. mate — a partner
  12. snap — to click
  13. clip — for paper
  14. present — there
  15. track — a path
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. clip — to cut
  19. kid — child
  20. track — a song
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. mate — to breed

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