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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. ground — crushed
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. ground — the earth
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a music group
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — to cut
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. ground — a position
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. rest — a break
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rest — what's left
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — of your body
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. chest — a box
  23. clip — a video
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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