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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: chest · kid · sharp · pop · fine · bore · land · clip

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. fine — high quality
  3. pop — music
  4. kid — child
  5. chest — of your body
  6. kid — to tease
  7. land — ground
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. clip — to cut
  10. pop — soda
  11. fine — all right
  12. clip — for paper
  13. land — a country
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. clip — a video
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. bore — to drill
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. land — to come down
  21. chest — of your body
  22. pop — to visit
  23. bore — to tire
  24. chest — a box

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