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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 124 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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. capital — a city
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. press — a publisher
  7. shower — to wash
  8. roll — a cake
  9. press — newspapers
  10. shower — rain
  11. rash — hasty
  12. wake — a trail
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. rash — a series
  15. press — to push
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. roll — a list
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. wind — moving air
  20. kick — in football
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — money
  23. wind — moving air
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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