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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. bear — the animal
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. field — farmland
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. kick — in football
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. ball — a dance
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. field — a subject
  16. ball — a great time
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. chip — to eat
  19. lie — to recline
  20. field — for sport
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — for paper
  23. chip — for betting
  24. clip — to cut

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