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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. land — a country
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. clip — to cut
  7. land — to come down
  8. rest — what's left
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. land — ground
  12. scale — size or range
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. kick — in football
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — the tool
  21. rest — what's left
  22. rest — a break
  23. scale — in music
  24. game — wild animals

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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