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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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. spell — letters
  3. clip — for paper
  4. fall — the season
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. clip — to cut
  8. perch — the fish
  9. spell — magic
  10. clip — a video
  11. rock — music
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. fall — to drop
  14. spell — a short time
  15. kid — to tease
  16. pound — a weight
  17. fall — to drop
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. rock — a stone
  20. kid — child
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. nail — on a finger

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