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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — for paper
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. fork — in a road
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. lean — thin
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — of your body
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. game — wild animals
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. chest — a box
  16. lean — to bend
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. foot — a measure
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. wound — an injury
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. wound — an injury
  23. clip — to cut
  24. foot — part of the body

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