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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 124 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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — to cut
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. pop — to visit
  8. pop — soda
  9. ball — a dance
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. bound — certain
  12. current — happening now
  13. file — a tool
  14. bound — tied together
  15. current — electric
  16. current — of water
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a document
  19. bound — obliged
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. kick — in football
  22. clip — a video
  23. ball — a great time
  24. pop — music

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