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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. row — to paddle
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. degree — from a university
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — to tease
  10. capital — money
  11. game — a match
  12. degree — an amount
  13. capital — a city
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. game — wild animals
  16. bear — the animal
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bear — the animal
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. row — a line
  22. kick — in football
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. bear — to put up with

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