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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. kid — child
  3. row — to paddle
  4. game — a match
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cell — in biology
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. game — wild animals
  15. kid — to tease
  16. row — a line
  17. clip — to cut
  18. snap — to click
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. clip — a video
  24. row — a quarrel

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