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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. ground — crushed
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. ground — a position
  9. ground — the earth
  10. file — a document
  11. fall — the season
  12. file — a tool
  13. kick — in football
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. file — a line of people
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. clip — a video
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. clip — to cut
  24. wave — of the sea

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