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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. scale — in music
  3. clip — for paper
  4. scale — size or range
  5. hand — in cards
  6. kid — to tease
  7. object — an aim
  8. kid — child
  9. mate — a partner
  10. stem — to come from
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. object — a thing
  14. object — to protest
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. mate — a friend
  19. clip — a video
  20. bark — to shout
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. hand — help
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. hand — part of the body

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