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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. march — the month
  4. kid — child
  5. march — the month
  6. clip — a video
  7. firm — steady
  8. firm — a company
  9. ground — a position
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. clip — for paper
  12. firm — decided
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. ground — crushed
  15. kid — to tease
  16. staff — a stick
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. foot — a measure
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. clip — to cut
  22. ground — the earth
  23. march — music
  24. staff — employees

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