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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — child
  4. mark — a grade
  5. bark — to shout
  6. land — to come down
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. hand — in cards
  9. mark — a trace
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. cue — for pool
  13. scale — in music
  14. land — ground
  15. scale — size or range
  16. land — a country
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. hand — help
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — to cut
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. clip — for paper
  23. cue — a signal
  24. cue — a hint

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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