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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 120 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'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. cap — a lid
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. cold — an illness
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. firm — decided
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — a video
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cap — a hat
  14. kick — in football
  15. prune — to trim
  16. chair — a leader
  17. firm — a company
  18. prune — to trim
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. pitch — completely
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cap — of ice
  24. clip — for paper

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