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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. clip — to cut
  3. cap — a lid
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. bat — the animal
  7. kid — to tease
  8. scale — in music
  9. court — for sport
  10. clip — a video
  11. snap — to click
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. court — of law
  14. cap — of ice
  15. scale — size or range
  16. kid — child
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. clip — for paper
  21. cap — a hat
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. court — of a king
  24. bat — in an idiom

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