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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.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

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

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. game — wild animals
  3. tear — from crying
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. clip — for paper
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. tear — to rip
  9. kick — in football
  10. clip — a video
  11. deal — to handle
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — a match
  15. tear — from crying
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. racket — for tennis

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