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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 120 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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. race — a contest
  4. race — humankind
  5. race — the arms race
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. kick — in football
  9. squash — the sport
  10. capital — money
  11. press — to push
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. press — a publisher
  14. capital — a city
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. squash — to crush
  17. press — newspapers
  18. capital — a big letter

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