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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. rule — government
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. capital — money
  6. kick — in football
  7. capital — a city
  8. clip — a video
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. snap — to click
  13. bound — obliged
  14. clip — for paper
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. rule — a law
  18. bound — tied together
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. bound — certain
  21. clip — to cut
  22. kid — child
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. patient — a sick person

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