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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. capital — a city
  5. season — of the year
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. bat — the animal
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a match
  14. pop — music
  15. season — in sport
  16. pop — to visit
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. kick — in football
  19. capital — money
  20. pop — soda
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. bat — for baseball

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