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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 116 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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. board — to get on
  3. hand — help
  4. perch — the fish
  5. lean — to bend
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. clip — to cut
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. mine — for digging
  15. clip — a video
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. clip — for paper
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. hand — in cards
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. lean — thin
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. board — a committee

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