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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. cap — of ice
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. clip — for paper
  5. lean — to bend
  6. kick — in football
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. snap — to click
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. clip — to cut
  13. cold — not warm
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. cap — a hat
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. rock — music
  18. row — a line
  19. cap — a lid
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. clip — a video
  22. cold — an illness
  23. rock — a stone
  24. lean — thin

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