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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mate — a partner
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. swing — in golf
  5. mate — a friend
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. net — in sport
  9. kick — in football
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. net — after costs
  12. clip — to cut
  13. swing — to play on
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. net — for catching
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. clip — for paper
  19. snap — to click
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. swing — music
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. mate — to breed
  24. clip — a video

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