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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. rush — hurry
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. shower — to wash
  10. capital — a city
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. game — a match
  13. shower — rain
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. kick — in football
  18. bark — to shout
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. capital — money
  21. game — wild animals
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. stand — to bear

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