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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: mug · mate · kick · game · clip · hand · bowl · pound

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. hand — help
  3. mate — a friend
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. pound — a weight
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — a video
  9. mate — to breed
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. mug — a cup
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. kick — in football
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. game — wild animals
  20. hand — in cards
  21. game — a match
  22. mug — to rob
  23. mate — a partner
  24. hand — part of the body

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