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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 116 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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. clip — a video
  4. track — a song
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. track — a path
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. kid — child
  9. track — to keep track
  10. clip — for paper
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. stem — to come from
  13. row — to paddle
  14. wake — a trail
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. perch — the fish
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. plane — a tool
  21. row — a line
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. kid — to tease
  24. clip — to cut

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