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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cap — a lid
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. cap — of ice
  5. rush — hurry
  6. kick — in football
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. ground — crushed
  9. cap — a hat
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. fall — to drop
  13. ground — a position
  14. land — a country
  15. dip — to sink
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. fall — the season
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — ground
  20. fall — to drop
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. ground — the earth

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