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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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. game — a match
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. game — wild animals
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. kick — in football
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. mine — for digging
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. capital — money
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. stem — to come from
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. capital — a city
  24. perch — the fish

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