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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: staff · object · face · clip · row · kick · dip · hide

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. object — to protest
  4. face — to confront
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. clip — to cut
  7. face — to point toward
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. kick — in football
  11. object — a thing
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. staff — employees
  14. clip — a video
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. face — part of the head
  17. dip — to sink
  18. clip — for paper
  19. row — a line
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. object — an aim
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. staff — a stick
  24. row — to paddle

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