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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 116 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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — the arms race
  6. prune — to trim
  7. spell — letters
  8. capital — money
  9. vault — a safe
  10. spell — magic
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. spell — a short time
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. race — humankind
  16. kick — in football
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. capital — a city
  21. prune — to trim
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. mine — for digging
  24. dip — to sink

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