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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. lean — thin
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. clip — a video
  5. land — to come down
  6. clip — for paper
  7. ground — crushed
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. land — a country
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. pound — a weight
  12. lean — to bend
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. ground — the earth
  15. toast — bread
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. land — ground
  18. ground — a position
  19. clip — to cut
  20. kid — child
  21. fork — in a road
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. lean — to rest against

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