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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  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. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. cue — a hint
  5. wake — a trail
  6. rash — a series
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. net — for catching
  9. cue — a signal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. net — after costs
  12. rash — hasty
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. cue — for pool
  15. branch — a division
  16. kick — in football
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bat — the animal
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. net — in sport
  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