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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. object — to protest
  3. clip — to cut
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. clip — a video
  6. drill — a practice
  7. object — a thing
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. track — to keep track
  10. drill — army training
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. rush — hurry
  13. kid — child
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. rash — a series
  18. stem — to come from
  19. track — a path
  20. track — a song
  21. object — an aim
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. clip — for paper
  24. drill — 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