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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 seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. chest — a box
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. net — in sport
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. hand — help
  9. rest — what's left
  10. chest — of your body
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. drill — the tool
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — a break
  17. net — for catching
  18. drill — army training
  19. pound — a weight
  20. foot — a measure
  21. hand — in cards
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. drill — a practice
  24. net — after costs

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