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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 116 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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — in football
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. cold — an illness
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. net — for catching
  11. wound — an injury
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. net — in sport
  14. scale — size or range
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. scale — in music
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. net — after costs
  20. wound — an injury
  21. prune — to trim
  22. fork — in a road
  23. cold — not warm
  24. scale — for weighing

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