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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 asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. last — finally
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — letters
  5. last — final
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. clip — to cut
  8. net — after costs
  9. clip — for paper
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. net — for catching
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. kick — in football
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. clip — a video
  16. kid — to tease
  17. last — to go on
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. net — in sport
  21. pitch — completely
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. lie — to recline
  24. kid — child

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