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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. wind — moving air
  4. clip — a video
  5. stem — to come from
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. wind — moving air
  10. squash — the sport
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bark — to shout
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. shower — rain
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — the tool
  19. clip — for paper
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. shower — to wash
  23. squash — to crush
  24. kick — a thrill

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