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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. face — to point toward
  3. wake — a trail
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. hand — help
  7. clip — to cut
  8. hand — in cards
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. face — to confront
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. clip — for paper
  14. prune — to trim
  15. kick — in football
  16. clip — a video
  17. pound — a weight
  18. chest — of your body
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. prune — to trim
  22. chest — a box
  23. face — part of the head
  24. chest — of your body

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