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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. cue — for pool
  4. land — to come down
  5. kick — in football
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. clip — to cut
  9. craft — boats
  10. cue — a signal
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. craft — a skill
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. land — a country
  16. clip — for paper
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. clip — a video
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. game — a match
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. land — ground
  24. game — wild animals

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