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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. clip — for paper
  3. perch — the fish
  4. clip — to cut
  5. spring — a coil
  6. tube — a container
  7. kid — to tease
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. vault — a safe
  11. bear — the animal
  12. clip — a video
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. kid — child
  15. tube — the underground
  16. spring — of water
  17. bear — the animal
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. spring — the season
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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