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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 116 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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. pitch — completely
  3. kick — in football
  4. kid — child
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. kid — to tease
  13. wake — a trail
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. cold — not warm
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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