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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. wind — moving air
  3. clip — to cut
  4. fall — the season
  5. clip — a video
  6. court — of a king
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. prune — to trim
  9. suit — clothes
  10. wind — moving air
  11. kick — in football
  12. fall — to drop
  13. court — for sport
  14. mate — a friend
  15. clip — for paper
  16. suit — in cards
  17. fall — to drop
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. suit — to fit
  20. prune — to trim
  21. mate — to breed
  22. court — of law
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. prune — the fruit

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