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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 116 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 seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. squash — the sport
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. pop — music
  7. hand — help
  8. clip — a video
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — child
  12. pop — soda
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. squash — to crush
  15. hand — in cards
  16. clip — for paper
  17. pop — to visit
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. deal — to handle
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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