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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. kid — to tease
  4. clip — to cut
  5. key — the most important part
  6. spring — a coil
  7. capital — money
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. land — to come down
  10. spring — the season
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. capital — a city
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. spring — of water
  16. clip — a video
  17. key — for a lock
  18. kid — child
  19. clip — for paper
  20. perch — the fish
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. land — a country
  23. land — ground
  24. key — in music

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