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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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. clip — a video
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. drill — the tool
  6. lean — to bend
  7. drill — army training
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. bulb — for light
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. wound — an injury
  16. clip — for paper
  17. wound — an injury
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. drill — a practice
  20. lean — thin
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. clip — to cut
  23. kick — in football
  24. mine — for digging

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