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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 116 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. clip — for paper
  6. rule — government
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. shower — rain
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. clip — a video
  15. snap — to click
  16. board — a committee
  17. kick — in football
  18. rule — a law
  19. board — to get on
  20. fork — in a road
  21. clip — to cut
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — to wash

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