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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. net — for catching
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. wake — a trail
  9. mark — a grade
  10. mark — a trace
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. foot — a measure
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. clip — for paper
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. clip — to cut
  19. net — after costs
  20. clip — a video
  21. kick — in football
  22. dip — to sink
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — dry grass

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