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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. object — to protest
  3. kid — child
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. clip — for paper
  7. object — an aim
  8. present — the time now
  9. present — there
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. present — a gift
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. clip — to cut
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. craft — a skill
  16. object — a thing
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. clip — a video
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. craft — boats
  23. date — the fruit
  24. date — on the calendar

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