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

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. clip — to cut
  3. kick — in football
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. cell — a phone
  6. last — final
  7. present — a gift
  8. last — finally
  9. object — a thing
  10. last — to go on
  11. present — the time now
  12. clip — for paper
  13. present — there
  14. object — to protest
  15. clip — a video
  16. object — an aim
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. cell — in a prison

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