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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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 — child
  2. roll — a cake
  3. swing — music
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. rule — government
  7. kid — to tease
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. toast — bread
  11. swing — in golf
  12. swing — to play on
  13. rule — a law
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. roll — a list
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. clip — to cut
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. clip — a video
  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