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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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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. club — for dancing
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. kick — in football
  7. club — a group
  8. tear — from crying
  9. cell — a phone
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cell — in biology
  12. clip — for paper
  13. season — of the year
  14. clip — to cut
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. season — in sport
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. wound — an injury
  19. clip — a video
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. club — for golf
  22. wound — an injury
  23. tear — to rip
  24. tear — from crying

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