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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — a video
  4. rock — a stone
  5. track — a path
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. capital — a city
  10. kid — child
  11. sharp — clever
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. track — a song
  17. rock — music
  18. shower — to wash
  19. chair — a leader
  20. shower — rain
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. track — to keep track
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. clip — for paper

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