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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. craft — boats
  3. clip — a video
  4. spring — a coil
  5. clip — for paper
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. spring — the season
  8. tear — to rip
  9. root — of a word
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. craft — a skill
  12. kid — child
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. tear — from crying
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. clip — to cut
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. root — the cause
  19. charge — a price
  20. root — of a plant
  21. spring — of water
  22. charge — electricity
  23. charge — in control
  24. tear — from crying

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