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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 116 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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. rock — music
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. clip — to cut
  6. club — for dancing
  7. wound — an injury
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. pass — a permit
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. kid — child
  13. club — a group
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. club — for golf
  18. rock — a stone
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. clip — a video
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. clip — for paper

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