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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. spell — letters
  4. bass — the fish
  5. rash — a series
  6. rash — hasty
  7. bass — low music
  8. spell — magic
  9. kick — in football
  10. track — to keep track
  11. ball — a dance
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. track — a song
  17. clip — a video
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. ball — a great time
  20. spell — a short time
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. track — a path
  24. kick — a thrill

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