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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. spell — letters
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. land — a country
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. fall — to drop
  11. land — to come down
  12. fall — the season
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. spell — a short time
  15. pop — music
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. clip — for paper
  18. rush — hurry
  19. pop — to visit
  20. pop — soda
  21. kick — in football
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. spell — magic
  24. fall — to drop

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