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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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. rock — a stone
  3. last — final
  4. rock — music
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. last — to go on
  7. land — a country
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. last — finally
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. deal — to handle
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. cold — an illness
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. kick — in football
  17. land — to come down
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. cold — not warm
  21. clip — for paper
  22. land — ground
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. kick — with a leg

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