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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 120 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — a video
  4. present — there
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. present — a gift
  9. plane — a tool
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. lean — to bend
  13. present — the time now
  14. spring — of water
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cap — a lid
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. cap — a hat
  20. lean — thin
  21. spring — the season
  22. kick — in football
  23. clip — for paper
  24. lean — to rest against

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