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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. cell — in biology
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. cell — a phone
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. shower — to wash
  7. hand — help
  8. present — there
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. kick — in football
  12. tube — the underground
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. kid — child
  15. field — farmland
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. tube — a container
  20. kid — to tease
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — for sport
  23. present — a gift
  24. shower — rain

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