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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. content — the amount
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. ground — crushed
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. pit — a hole
  8. ground — a position
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. chip — for betting
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. ground — the earth
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. content — happy
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — for paper
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. chip — to eat
  22. pit — in a race
  23. clip — to cut
  24. chip — in a computer

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