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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. tear — from crying
  4. pit — a hole
  5. clip — to cut
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. tear — to rip
  9. kick — in football
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. lie — to recline
  12. fine — high quality
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. clip — for paper
  15. net — after costs
  16. tear — from crying
  17. net — for catching
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. clip — a video
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. fine — all right
  23. net — in sport
  24. bat — the animal

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