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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. cold — an illness
  4. kick — in football
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. rock — music
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. rock — a stone
  10. plane — a tool
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. plane — in geometry

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