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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.

Make a worksheet

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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Word bank
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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 seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. kick — in football
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. mine — for digging
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. march — the month
  7. dip — to sink
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. clip — for paper
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. bass — the fish
  14. clip — a video
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. rush — hurry
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. bass — low music

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