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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. spring — the season
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. spring — a coil
  6. tube — the underground
  7. row — a line
  8. ground — a position
  9. chair — a leader
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. mate — a partner
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. kick — in football
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. ground — the earth
  16. row — to paddle
  17. tube — a container
  18. ground — crushed
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. mate — to breed
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. spring — of water
  24. mate — a friend

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