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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. drill — the tool
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. field — farmland
  9. net — after costs
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. kick — in football
  13. drill — a practice
  14. net — in sport
  15. swing — in golf
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. field — a subject
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. net — for catching
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. drill — army training
  23. swing — music
  24. field — for sport

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