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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kick — in football
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. hand — in cards
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. kid — child
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. hand — help
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. mark — a grade
  15. row — to paddle
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. cell — a phone
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. game — a match
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. mark — a trace
  23. row — a line
  24. cell — in biology

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