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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — child
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. clip — for paper
  8. field — a subject
  9. kick — in football
  10. field — for sport
  11. clip — to cut
  12. spell — magic
  13. field — farmland
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. perch — the fish
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. clip — a video
  22. spell — a short time
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — a jug

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