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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. kid — child
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. cap — a lid
  6. roll — a list
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. cap — a hat
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. roll — a cake
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — for paper
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. rock — a stone
  15. foot — a measure
  16. kid — to tease
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — in cards
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a match
  22. clip — to cut
  23. rock — music
  24. cap — of ice

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