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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. kid — child
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. clip — a video
  6. band — a ring
  7. clip — to cut
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. pound — a weight
  11. kid — to tease
  12. craft — a skill
  13. craft — boats
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. snap — to click
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. clip — for paper
  21. band — a music group
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. band — a rubber band

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