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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · pitcher · clip · fork · rule · leaves · season · scale

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. clip — to cut
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. clip — a video
  6. fork — in a road
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. rule — government
  12. kid — to tease
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. scale — in music
  15. scale — size or range
  16. clip — for paper
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. rule — a law
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. season — in sport
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. season — of the year

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