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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. prune — to trim
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. suit — in cards
  6. clip — a video
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. suit — to fit
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. prune — to trim
  17. deal — to handle
  18. clip — for paper
  19. hand — help
  20. hand — in cards
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. kick — in football
  23. wake — a trail
  24. suit — clothes

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