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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 116 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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. clip — a video
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. pit — a hole
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. drill — the tool
  9. clip — for paper
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. drill — army training
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. drill — a practice
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chair — a leader
  18. kid — to tease
  19. pit — in a race
  20. ball — a dance
  21. kid — child
  22. clip — to cut
  23. snap — to click
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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