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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. club — a group
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — child
  5. club — for golf
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. capital — a city
  8. last — to go on
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bark — to shout
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. snap — to click
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. craft — a skill
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. craft — boats
  21. last — finally
  22. club — for dancing
  23. clip — for paper
  24. last — final

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