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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. net — for catching
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. charge — electricity
  5. sharp — clever
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. bark — to shout
  8. field — farmland
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. charge — in control
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. scale — size or range
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. kick — in football
  15. charge — a price
  16. field — a subject
  17. net — in sport
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. pound — a weight
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. field — for sport
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. net — after costs
  24. scale — in music

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