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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. kick — in football
  4. spell — letters
  5. kid — child
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. kid — to tease
  9. wound — an injury
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. spell — magic
  15. wound — an injury
  16. fork — in a road
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. pop — soda
  21. branch — a division
  22. pop — to visit
  23. spell — a short time
  24. branch — of a bank

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