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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 120 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. clip — a video
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. prune — to trim
  9. suit — clothes
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. suit — to fit
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bark — to shout
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. suit — in cards
  19. prune — to trim
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. capital — money
  22. capital — a city
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. kick — in football

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