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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. land — ground
  4. clip — for paper
  5. can — to be able to
  6. land — to come down
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. clip — a video
  11. stand — to bear
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. chest — of your body
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. bear — the animal
  16. can — a tin
  17. pound — a weight
  18. clip — to cut
  19. chest — a box
  20. land — a country
  21. chest — of your body
  22. kick — in football
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. bear — the animal

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