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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. clip — a video
  3. race — a contest
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. clip — to cut
  6. fine — high quality
  7. fine — all right
  8. swing — in golf
  9. swing — music
  10. clip — for paper
  11. chest — a box
  12. row — a line
  13. swing — to play on
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. kick — in football
  16. shower — rain
  17. race — the arms race
  18. race — humankind
  19. chest — of your body
  20. shower — to wash
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. chest — of your body
  23. row — to paddle
  24. fine — a penalty

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