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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 116 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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. rock — music
  3. race — a contest
  4. kick — in football
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. lie — to recline
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. clip — for paper
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — the tool
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. clip — to cut
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. clip — a video
  16. race — humankind
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. file — a tool
  19. rock — a stone
  20. file — a line of people
  21. race — the arms race
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. file — a document
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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