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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — to tease
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. kid — child
  7. mug — a face
  8. pop — to visit
  9. suit — clothes
  10. mine — for digging
  11. clip — to cut
  12. mug — a cup
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. suit — to fit
  15. pop — soda
  16. clip — for paper
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. pop — music
  20. mug — to rob
  21. pound — a weight
  22. clip — a video
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. mine — an explosive

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