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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 124 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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. race — the arms race
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. clip — a video
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. root — of a word
  8. race — humankind
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. race — a contest
  11. root — the cause
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. hand — in cards
  14. firm — steady
  15. clip — for paper
  16. firm — decided
  17. root — of a plant
  18. kick — in football
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. firm — a company
  22. hand — help
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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