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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. charge — a price
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. scale — size or range
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — happy
  14. wound — an injury
  15. charge — in control
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. kick — in football
  19. charge — electricity
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. bat — the animal
  22. wound — an injury
  23. scale — in music
  24. content — the amount

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