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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 116 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've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. ball — a dance
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. bore — to drill
  7. bore — to tire
  8. clip — a video
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. bark — to shout
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. ball — a great time
  14. snap — to click
  15. march — the month
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. march — music
  19. kid — child
  20. cell — in biology
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cell — a phone
  23. kid — to tease
  24. march — the month

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