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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. ground — a position
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. land — to come down
  8. bound — tied together
  9. clip — for paper
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. shower — to wash
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. kick — in football
  15. land — a country
  16. ground — the earth
  17. shower — rain
  18. plane — a tool
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. ground — crushed
  21. bound — obliged
  22. land — ground
  23. stem — to come from
  24. kick — a thrill

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