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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. clip — to cut
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bat — the animal
  8. saw — the tool
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. saw — the tool
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. board — a committee
  14. kid — child
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. bore — to drill
  18. branch — a division
  19. mine — for digging
  20. board — to get on
  21. clip — a video
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. bore — to tire

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