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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. swing — music
  4. clip — to cut
  5. court — for sport
  6. mark — a trace
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. clip — a video
  9. court — of a king
  10. swing — to play on
  11. saw — the tool
  12. mark — a grade
  13. clip — for paper
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. saw — the tool
  16. last — finally
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. court — of law
  21. last — final
  22. kick — in football
  23. swing — in golf
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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