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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  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. coach — a trainer
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. field — for sport
  4. wind — moving air
  5. clip — for paper
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. wind — moving air
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. kick — in football
  11. clip — to cut
  12. hand — in cards
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hand — help
  17. field — a subject
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. field — farmland
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. arm — a part of something
  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