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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. tube — a container
  3. field — for sport
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. clip — for paper
  6. tube — the underground
  7. field — farmland
  8. key — in music
  9. key — for a lock
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. root — the cause
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bore — to tire
  14. root — of a word
  15. bore — to drill
  16. field — a subject
  17. key — the most important part
  18. game — a match
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. game — wild animals
  22. root — of a plant
  23. clip — a video
  24. kick — in football

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