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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. cap — a lid
  3. last — final
  4. bound — obliged
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — for paper
  7. row — to paddle
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. clip — to cut
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. key — for a lock
  12. row — a line
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. cap — a hat
  15. kick — in football
  16. bound — tied together
  17. cap — of ice
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. bound — certain
  21. last — finally
  22. key — in music
  23. key — the most important part
  24. row — a quarrel

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