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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pit · hide · kick · straw · rest · clip

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. clip — a video
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. pit — a hole
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. rest — what's left
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. clip — for paper
  12. rest — what's left
  13. pit — in a race
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. clip — to cut
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — in football

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