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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. foot — a measure
  3. kick — in football
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. rush — hurry
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. kid — to tease
  8. tear — to rip
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. tear — from crying
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. wake — a trail
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. scale — in music
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. tear — from crying
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. kid — child
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. scale — size or range

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