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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. kid — to tease
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. press — to push
  7. kid — child
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. pound — a weight
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. clip — to cut
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. fork — in a road
  15. vault — a safe
  16. press — newspapers
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. clip — for paper
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. press — a publisher
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. clip — a video
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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