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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.

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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. degree — an amount
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. suit — in cards
  6. hand — help
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. pit — a hole
  9. pit — in a race
  10. hand — in cards
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. drill — a practice
  13. degree — temperature
  14. wind — moving air
  15. sharp — clever
  16. suit — clothes
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. suit — to fit
  20. drill — army training
  21. degree — from a university
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. drill — the tool

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