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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. firm — steady
  3. fall — to drop
  4. perch — the fish
  5. fall — the season
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. fall — to drop
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — a video
  13. net — after costs
  14. net — in sport
  15. clip — for paper
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. net — for catching
  18. firm — a company
  19. kick — in football
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. firm — decided
  24. plane — a tool

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