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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. kick — in football
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. clip — to cut
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. clip — a video
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. mine — for digging
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. sharp — clever
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. clip — for paper
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. date — the fruit
  24. sharp — with an edge

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