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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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. clip — to cut
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. hand — help
  5. clip — a video
  6. plane — a tool
  7. chair — a leader
  8. shower — rain
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. kick — in football
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — in cards
  18. shower — to wash
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. clip — for paper
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. chair — a professorship

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