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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. kid — to tease
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. kid — child
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. snap — to click
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. clip — a video
  14. rash — hasty
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. rash — a series

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