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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — to tease
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. track — a song
  6. shower — rain
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. press — to push
  10. track — a path
  11. clip — a video
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. saw — the tool
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. track — to keep track
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. clip — for paper
  18. press — newspapers
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. press — a publisher
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. shower — to wash
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. leaves — to go away

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