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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. row — a line
  4. kick — in football
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. clip — a video
  7. mug — to rob
  8. mug — a cup
  9. spring — the season
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. mug — a face
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. face — to point toward
  15. face — part of the head
  16. scale — in music
  17. clip — to cut
  18. face — to confront
  19. clip — for paper
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. spring — of water
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. row — to paddle
  24. spring — a coil

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