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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. row — to paddle
  3. kid — to tease
  4. season — of the year
  5. clip — for paper
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. bound — certain
  10. bound — obliged
  11. foot — a measure
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. clip — to cut
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. row — a line
  19. mine — for digging
  20. season — in sport
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. clip — a video
  23. bound — tied together
  24. wake — a trail

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