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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — in cards
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. clip — to cut
  8. wind — moving air
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. wind — moving air
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. stem — to come from
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. lie — to recline
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. kick — in football
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. wax — to grow
  21. pound — a weight
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — a video
  24. stem — a stem cell

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