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

Word bank: bat · clip · firm · wave · kick · race

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. firm — a company
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. race — humankind
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. kick — in football
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. race — a contest
  14. firm — decided
  15. clip — a video
  16. race — the arms race
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — in an idiom

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