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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. mug — a face
  3. clip — to cut
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bore — to drill
  6. bore — to tire
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. band — a ring
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. mug — to rob
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. scale — size or range
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — child
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. scale — in music
  21. band — a music group
  22. prune — to trim
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. prune — the fruit

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