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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. bound — tied together
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. rule — government
  5. field — for sport
  6. rule — a law
  7. clip — to cut
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. bat — the animal
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. bound — certain
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. clip — for paper
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. kick — in football
  20. field — farmland
  21. clip — a video
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bound — obliged
  24. field — a subject

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