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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. kick — a thrill
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. kick — in football
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. scale — in music
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. spell — a short time
  9. scale — size or range
  10. suit — to fit
  11. cold — an illness
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. spell — magic
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. suit — in cards
  17. spell — letters
  18. vault — a safe
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. shower — to wash
  22. suit — clothes
  23. cold — not warm
  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