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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. ground — a position
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. clip — to cut
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. content — the amount
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. squash — to crush
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. clip — for paper
  12. kick — in football
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. ground — the earth
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. sharp — clever
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. squash — the sport
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. clip — a video
  22. content — happy
  23. ground — crushed
  24. kick — with a leg

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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