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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. hand — help
  3. bound — certain
  4. tear — to rip
  5. pop — soda
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bound — obliged
  9. kick — in football
  10. clip — a video
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. spell — a short time
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. spell — letters
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. bound — tied together
  18. tear — from crying
  19. clip — to cut
  20. spell — magic
  21. pop — to visit
  22. sharp — clever
  23. clip — for paper
  24. pop — 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