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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. clip — for paper
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. rush — hurry
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. mine — for digging
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. wound — an injury
  11. current — happening now
  12. kick — in football
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. current — electric
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. current — of water
  17. perch — the fish
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. clip — a video
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. clip — to cut
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. wound — an injury

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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