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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. fall — to drop
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. fall — the season
  5. bark — to shout
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. lie — to recline
  8. bat — the animal
  9. prune — to trim
  10. pop — to visit
  11. pop — soda
  12. kick — in football
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. tube — a container
  20. tube — the underground
  21. pop — music
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. bat — in an idiom

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