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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. race — a contest
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bound — obliged
  7. net — in sport
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. race — the arms race
  11. scale — in music
  12. scale — size or range
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. bound — tied together
  15. race — humankind
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. net — after costs
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. bound — certain
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. kick — in football
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — to wash
  24. net — for catching

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