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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. clip — to cut
  3. fine — all right
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. mark — a trace
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. mark — a grade
  9. row — to paddle
  10. kick — in football
  11. lean — to bend
  12. clip — for paper
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. saw — the tool
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. fine — high quality
  19. clip — a video
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. row — a line
  22. saw — the tool
  23. lean — thin
  24. mark — to pay attention

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