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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. present — there
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. pound — a weight
  5. clip — for paper
  6. present — a gift
  7. clip — a video
  8. drill — army training
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. row — to paddle
  11. drill — a practice
  12. kid — to tease
  13. pitch — completely
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. present — the time now
  17. drill — the tool
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. row — a line
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. dip — to sink
  24. kid — child

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