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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cue — a hint
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. cue — a signal
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cue — for pool
  12. cold — not warm
  13. wound — an injury
  14. clip — to cut
  15. kick — in football
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. sharp — clever
  18. cold — an illness
  19. roll — a list
  20. roll — a cake
  21. clip — a video
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. sharp — with an edge

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