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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. last — final
  3. kick — in football
  4. spell — a short time
  5. pop — soda
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pop — music
  8. chair — a leader
  9. deal — to handle
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. spell — letters
  15. spell — magic
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. last — to go on
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. last — finally
  20. chest — a box
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cell — in biology
  24. deal — a big deal

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