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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. clip — for paper
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. mine — for digging
  5. craft — boats
  6. kick — in football
  7. prune — to trim
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. prune — to trim
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. mark — a trace
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. craft — a skill
  18. clip — a video
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. bat — the animal
  21. clip — to cut
  22. mark — a grade
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. mark — to pay attention

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