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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 ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  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. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. kick — in football
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. wound — an injury
  6. stem — to come from
  7. court — of law
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. clip — to cut
  10. court — of a king
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bear — the animal
  14. court — for sport
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. wound — an injury
  23. trunk — of a tree
  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