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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. row — to paddle
  3. dip — to sink
  4. kick — in football
  5. ground — the earth
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. face — to confront
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. ground — crushed
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a ring
  14. face — to point toward
  15. row — a line
  16. stem — to come from
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — a video
  19. face — part of the head
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. clip — for paper
  24. ground — a position

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