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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. court — of law
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. snap — to click
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. hand — in cards
  8. clip — for paper
  9. court — for sport
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. court — of a king
  15. clip — to cut
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. capital — a city
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. kick — in football
  20. clip — a video
  21. capital — money
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. wind — moving air

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