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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 116 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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  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. nail — on a finger
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. clip — a video
  6. cell — a phone
  7. clip — for paper
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. lie — to recline
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. clip — to cut
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. row — to paddle
  18. kick — in football
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. cell — in biology
  21. row — a line
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. kick — a thrill
  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