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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. ball — a great time
  3. sharp — clever
  4. cell — in biology
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. charge — in control
  7. clip — a video
  8. content — happy
  9. content — the amount
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. charge — a price
  12. charge — electricity
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. clip — to cut
  15. pitch — completely
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. ball — a dance
  19. kick — in football
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cell — a phone
  24. content — videos and posts

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