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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — to drop
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. game — wild animals
  6. capital — a city
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. clip — to cut
  9. fall — the season
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. bound — obliged
  12. capital — money
  13. clip — a video
  14. face — to confront
  15. face — part of the head
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. face — to point toward
  18. bound — tied together
  19. game — a match
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. clip — for paper
  22. kid — to tease
  23. bound — certain
  24. capital — a big letter

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