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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. pound — a weight
  6. clip — to cut
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. clip — for paper
  9. hand — help
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. bear — the animal
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. kick — in football
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. bear — the animal
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. shower — to wash
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. clip — a video
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. shower — rain

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