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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. sharp — clever
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. kid — child
  5. press — to push
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. race — humankind
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. cue — for pool
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. perch — the fish
  13. kick — in football
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. degree — temperature
  16. press — newspapers
  17. race — the arms race
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — from a university
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. cue — a signal
  23. race — a contest
  24. press — a publisher

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