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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. march — the month
  4. cold — an illness
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. bank — of a river
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cold — not warm
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. bank — for money
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. march — the month
  19. kick — in football
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bank — for money
  23. sharp — clever
  24. march — music

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