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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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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. rush — hurry
  5. land — ground
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. game — a match
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. mark — a grade
  12. pass — a permit
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. kick — in football
  15. bat — the animal
  16. land — a country
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. land — to come down
  19. mark — a trace
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. game — wild animals
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. bat — for baseball

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