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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. tube — a container
  6. rash — hasty
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. mine — for digging
  9. kick — in football
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. shower — rain
  13. field — a subject
  14. shower — to wash
  15. field — for sport
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. tube — the underground
  18. sharp — clever
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. rash — a series
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. field — farmland
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. bowl — to roll

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