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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. season — in sport
  3. clip — a video
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. track — to keep track
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. track — a path
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. sharp — clever
  12. clip — to cut
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. season — of the year
  17. track — a song
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. clip — for paper
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. kick — in football
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. mine — for digging
  24. jam — a tight spot

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