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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. lean — thin
  3. kick — in football
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. row — to paddle
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. cap — a hat
  11. lean — to bend
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. cap — of ice
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — to cut
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. clip — a video
  20. row — a line
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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