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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  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. toast — a drink to someone
  2. chest — a box
  3. ball — a great time
  4. clip — for paper
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. chest — of your body
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. kid — child
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. mark — a trace
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. clip — a video
  16. toast — bread
  17. last — final
  18. mark — a grade
  19. last — finally
  20. chest — of your body
  21. kid — to tease
  22. last — to go on
  23. ball — a dance
  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