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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. root — of a word
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wake — a trail
  8. track — to keep track
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. bat — the animal
  12. root — the cause
  13. clip — a video
  14. kick — in football
  15. track — a path
  16. root — of a plant
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. clip — for paper
  20. track — a song
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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