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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 116 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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. object — a thing
  3. object — an aim
  4. bank — for money
  5. prune — to trim
  6. rest — what's left
  7. prune — to trim
  8. wound — an injury
  9. clip — to cut
  10. rest — a break
  11. rest — what's left
  12. stand — to bear
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. wound — an injury
  15. clip — for paper
  16. object — to protest
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. clip — a video
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. kick — in football
  21. bank — of a river
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. bank — for money

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