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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 hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. clip — to cut
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. kid — child
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. clip — a video
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — to tease
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. hand — in cards
  17. shower — to wash
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. game — a match
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. hand — help
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. game — wild animals
  24. clip — for paper

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