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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 116 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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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. wind — moving air
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. rash — hasty
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. chair — a leader
  7. sharp — clever
  8. plane — a tool
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. key — the most important part
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. key — for a lock
  16. rash — a series
  17. wind — moving air
  18. key — in music
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. snap — to click
  24. kick — in football

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