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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. clip — to cut
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. clip — a video
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. rush — hurry
  8. land — to come down
  9. cue — a hint
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. kick — in football
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ball — a great time
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. cue — for pool
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. cue — a signal
  18. deal — to handle
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. land — ground
  22. land — a country
  23. date — the fruit
  24. clip — for paper

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