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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. kick — in football
  3. firm — steady
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. content — happy
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — the animal
  9. fork — in a road
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. content — the amount
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. firm — decided
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. roll — a list
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. firm — a company
  20. roll — a cake
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. pitch — completely
  24. content — videos and posts

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