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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. can — a tin
  4. can — a tin
  5. field — for sport
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. kick — in football
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. shower — rain
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. can — to be able to
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. net — after costs
  15. field — a subject
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. net — in sport
  18. shower — to wash
  19. net — for catching
  20. kid — to tease
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. field — farmland
  23. kid — child
  24. pitcher — a jug

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