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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. staff — employees
  5. bore — to drill
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — a video
  9. bore — to tire
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. wax — to grow
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — the amount
  14. staff — a stick
  15. kid — child
  16. staff — employees
  17. kick — in football
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. content — happy
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. clip — for paper
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. wax — in the ear

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