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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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. root — the cause
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. object — to protest
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. object — a thing
  8. root — of a plant
  9. object — an aim
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. field — farmland
  12. file — a line of people
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. kick — in football
  15. field — a subject
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. snap — to click
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. field — for sport
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. root — of a word
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a document

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