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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 116 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. clip — for paper
  3. kick — in football
  4. cap — of ice
  5. ground — a position
  6. can — a tin
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. ground — crushed
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — a video
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. cap — a hat
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. shower — rain
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. ground — the earth
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. cap — a lid
  20. can — a tin
  21. can — to be able to
  22. branch — a division
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. branch — of a tree

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