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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. rest — what's left
  3. hand — help
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. rest — what's left
  9. press — to push
  10. rest — a break
  11. press — a publisher
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. hand — in cards
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. press — newspapers
  16. lie — to recline
  17. cold — an illness
  18. sharp — clever
  19. cold — not warm
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. kick — in football
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. kick — with a leg

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