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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — to cut
  5. kid — child
  6. file — a line of people
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — the animal
  11. file — a tool
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. clip — a video
  14. bulb — for light
  15. file — a document
  16. track — a path
  17. bark — to shout
  18. track — to keep track
  19. kid — to tease
  20. bulb — for light
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. track — a song
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. mouse — the animal

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