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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — ground
  6. pop — soda
  7. kick — in football
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. pop — to visit
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. shower — to wash
  12. clip — a video
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — tied together
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bound — certain
  18. land — a country
  19. clip — for paper
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. spring — of water
  22. clip — to cut
  23. spring — the season
  24. shower — rain

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