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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 had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. row — to paddle
  3. face — part of the head
  4. face — to point toward
  5. face — to confront
  6. row — a line
  7. clip — a video
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. clip — for paper
  10. capital — money
  11. object — an aim
  12. clip — to cut
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. foot — a measure
  15. object — to protest
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. kid — child
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. object — a thing
  21. capital — a city
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. saw — the tool

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