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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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. drill — army training
  4. last — final
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. degree — from a university
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. kid — to tease
  9. rest — what's left
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. rest — what's left
  12. degree — temperature
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. drill — a practice
  15. last — to go on
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. degree — an amount
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. drill — the tool
  22. last — finally
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. kick — in football

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