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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. clip — for paper
  4. kid — to tease
  5. present — the time now
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. saw — the tool
  8. face — to point toward
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. game — a match
  11. face — part of the head
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. saw — the tool
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. kid — child
  17. clip — a video
  18. game — wild animals
  19. present — there
  20. present — a gift
  21. face — to confront
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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