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

Word bank: bay · present · fork · content · kid · bore · kick · clip

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bore — to tire
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. present — there
  6. kid — to tease
  7. clip — a video
  8. kid — child
  9. present — the time now
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. fork — in a road
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. content — happy
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. kick — in football
  19. present — a gift
  20. content — the amount
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. bore — to drill

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