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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bound — obliged
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. clip — for paper
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. bound — tied together
  8. club — for golf
  9. clip — to cut
  10. club — a group
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. club — for dancing
  13. bound — certain
  14. kick — in football
  15. race — a contest
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. race — humankind
  19. clip — a video
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. sharp — clever
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. race — the arms race
  24. sharp — with an edge

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