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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. rest — what's left
  3. wake — a trail
  4. cold — an illness
  5. kick — in football
  6. can — a tin
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. can — to be able to
  10. rest — a break
  11. cold — not warm
  12. spring — the season
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. spring — of water
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. clip — a video
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. cell — a phone
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cell — in biology
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. clip — to cut
  24. can — a tin

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