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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. snap — to click
  3. court — of law
  4. chip — to eat
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. court — for sport
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. capital — money
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cell — a phone
  12. sharp — clever
  13. capital — a city
  14. cell — in biology
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. club — for dancing
  17. club — for golf
  18. club — a group
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. court — of a king
  21. chip — for betting
  22. kick — in football
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. sharp — exactly

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