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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. fall — to drop
  3. cell — in biology
  4. clip — a video
  5. fall — to drop
  6. scale — size or range
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. swing — music
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cell — a phone
  11. swing — in golf
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fall — the season
  14. swing — to play on
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — in music
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. stock — goods
  19. stock — shares
  20. clip — for paper
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. clip — to cut
  24. fan — to cool the air

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