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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. hand — help
  3. wind — moving air
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. plane — a tool
  7. branch — a division
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. hand — in cards
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. stock — shares
  15. kick — in football
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. stock — goods
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. wind — moving air
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. plane — in geometry

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