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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. clip — to cut
  3. chest — of your body
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. clip — for paper
  8. kick — in football
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. clip — a video
  11. wake — a trail
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. chest — a box
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. object — an aim
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. object — a thing
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. deal — to handle
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. chest — of your body
  24. object — to protest

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