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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. clip — a video
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. last — to go on
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. clip — for paper
  9. race — the arms race
  10. bore — to drill
  11. kid — child
  12. race — a contest
  13. clip — to cut
  14. last — final
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. bore — to tire
  21. kid — to tease
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. race — humankind
  24. last — finally

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