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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. key — in music
  4. march — music
  5. file — a tool
  6. march — the month
  7. file — a line of people
  8. march — the month
  9. kid — to tease
  10. court — for sport
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. clip — a video
  13. file — a document
  14. court — of a king
  15. kid — child
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. key — the most important part
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bulb — for light
  21. key — for a lock
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. court — of law

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