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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 120 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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. shower — rain
  5. chest — of your body
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. clip — for paper
  8. kick — in football
  9. clip — to cut
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. pop — to visit
  13. chest — a box
  14. shower — to wash
  15. chest — of your body
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. kid — child
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. pop — soda
  22. wake — a trail
  23. kid — to tease
  24. pop — music

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