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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 124 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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. saw — the tool
  3. clip — a video
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. kid — to tease
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. last — finally
  10. bore — to drill
  11. last — to go on
  12. kid — child
  13. clip — to cut
  14. saw — the tool
  15. squash — to crush
  16. kick — in football
  17. squash — the sport
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. clip — for paper
  20. last — final
  21. chair — a leader
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. bore — to tire

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