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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. clip — to cut
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. net — in sport
  8. mark — a trace
  9. kick — in football
  10. board — to get on
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. net — after costs
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. net — for catching
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. wound — an injury
  21. board — a committee
  22. mark — a grade
  23. clip — a video
  24. wound — an injury

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