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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 am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. clip — to cut
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. present — the time now
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. present — a gift
  9. mine — for digging
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — from a university
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. clip — for paper
  14. kick — in football
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. clip — a video
  17. present — there
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. degree — an amount
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. lie — to recline

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