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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. last — to go on
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. last — final
  6. capital — a city
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. mark — a trace
  11. capital — money
  12. last — finally
  13. kick — in football
  14. drill — the tool
  15. drill — army training
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mark — a grade
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. drill — a practice
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. pitcher — a jug

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