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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. scale — size or range
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. scale — in music
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — of water
  13. ball — a dance
  14. row — a line
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. press — a publisher
  20. row — to paddle
  21. press — newspapers
  22. wind — moving air
  23. press — to push
  24. spring — a coil

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