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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. kick — in football
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. clip — a video
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. chest — a box
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. clip — to cut
  10. drill — army training
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. drill — the tool
  13. court — of a king
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. current — happening now
  16. court — of law
  17. clip — for paper
  18. current — of water
  19. court — for sport
  20. current — electric
  21. drill — a practice
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — of your body
  24. stand — for spectators

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