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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. mark — a grade
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. degree — from a university
  9. kick — in football
  10. mark — a trace
  11. clip — to cut
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. degree — temperature
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. rash — hasty
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. degree — an amount
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. clip — a video
  23. rash — a series
  24. cold — not warm

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