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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. snap — to click
  4. land — to come down
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. mate — a friend
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. firm — a company
  11. clip — for paper
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. mate — to breed
  14. land — a country
  15. land — ground
  16. mate — a partner
  17. firm — steady
  18. mark — a trace
  19. firm — decided
  20. clip — a video
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. mark — a grade
  23. clip — to cut
  24. kick — in football

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