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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. tube — the underground
  3. game — a match
  4. chest — of your body
  5. root — of a plant
  6. mate — to breed
  7. mate — a friend
  8. kick — in football
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. race — a contest
  11. game — wild animals
  12. mate — a partner
  13. chest — a box
  14. root — of a word
  15. race — the arms race
  16. sharp — clever
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. race — humankind
  20. chest — of your body
  21. tube — a container
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. root — the cause

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