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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'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. row — a line
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — an injury
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. net — in sport
  9. clip — to cut
  10. kick — in football
  11. clip — a video
  12. pop — to visit
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. clip — for paper
  16. row — to paddle
  17. firm — a company
  18. firm — decided
  19. net — after costs
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. net — for catching
  23. pop — music
  24. pop — soda

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