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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. bass — the fish
  5. cold — an illness
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. cold — not warm
  10. track — a path
  11. kid — child
  12. pop — music
  13. bass — low music
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. pop — to visit
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. track — a song
  18. prune — to trim
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. prune — to trim
  21. pop — soda
  22. track — to keep track
  23. kick — in football
  24. fan — to cool the air

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