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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cue — a signal
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. field — farmland
  5. kick — in football
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. march — the month
  8. cue — for pool
  9. clip — for paper
  10. march — music
  11. clip — to cut
  12. date — the fruit
  13. clip — a video
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. field — for sport
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. field — a subject
  21. march — the month
  22. cue — a hint
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. kick — with a leg

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