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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. kid — child
  4. tube — a container
  5. clip — to cut
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. kid — to tease
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. season — of the year
  10. clip — a video
  11. tube — the underground
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. season — in sport
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. pound — a weight
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. capital — money
  20. clip — for paper
  21. capital — a city
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. row — a line
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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