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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. current — happening now
  3. chest — of your body
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. pop — to visit
  6. clip — a video
  7. chest — a box
  8. clip — for paper
  9. roll — a list
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. current — of water
  13. current — electric
  14. pop — soda
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — wild animals
  17. roll — a cake
  18. kick — in football
  19. chest — of your body
  20. pop — music
  21. game — a match
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. cabinet — ministers

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