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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. sharp — clever
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. clip — a video
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. kick — in football
  13. clip — for paper
  14. hand — help
  15. face — to point toward
  16. kid — to tease
  17. kid — child
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. clip — to cut
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. face — part of the head
  24. hand — in cards

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