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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · wound · fan · bear · plane · clip · cell · object

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — an injury
  4. object — an aim
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. cell — a phone
  7. object — to protest
  8. kid — child
  9. clip — a video
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. bear — the animal
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. kid — to tease
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. clip — to cut
  17. cell — in biology
  18. object — a thing
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. plane — a tool
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. bear — the animal

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