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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.

Make a worksheet

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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. wind — moving air
  6. kick — in football
  7. mine — for digging
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. scale — in music
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. rash — a series
  14. row — to paddle
  15. wind — moving air
  16. row — a line
  17. scale — size or range
  18. rash — hasty

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