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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. clip — to cut
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. clip — for paper
  7. lie — to recline
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. staff — employees
  11. march — the month
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — to tease
  16. march — the month
  17. pound — a weight
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. staff — a stick
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. march — music
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. clip — a video

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