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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. capital — a city
  4. spell — a short time
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. mate — a friend
  7. spell — magic
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. kick — in football
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. mate — a partner
  12. spell — letters
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. chair — a leader
  16. mate — to breed
  17. capital — money
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. bat — the animal

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