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

Word bank: cap · fine · clip · last · plane · kid · fork · root

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. last — to go on
  3. cap — a lid
  4. clip — to cut
  5. last — finally
  6. root — of a plant
  7. cap — of ice
  8. clip — for paper
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. plane — a tool
  11. fine — all right
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. cap — a hat
  14. kid — child
  15. fork — in a road
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. root — the cause
  18. root — of a word
  19. last — final
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. clip — a video
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. fine — high quality

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