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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. kick — in football
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mate — to breed
  7. clip — a video
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. lean — to bend
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. tube — a container
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. mate — a partner
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. clip — for paper
  20. tube — the underground
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. mate — a friend
  23. clip — to cut
  24. mine — for digging

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