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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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468
Word bank
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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. bat — the animal
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. wind — moving air
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. clip — for paper
  10. game — a match
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. cell — in biology
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. clip — a video
  18. game — wild animals
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. kick — in football

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