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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 thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. capital — a city
  5. kid — to tease
  6. clip — to cut
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — child
  9. clip — a video
  10. track — to keep track
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — the tool
  14. capital — money
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. dip — to sink
  18. clip — for paper
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. track — a path
  21. drill — army training
  22. track — a song
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. capital — a big letter

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