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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. degree — an amount
  4. shower — rain
  5. land — ground
  6. season — of the year
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. cold — not warm
  9. snap — to click
  10. degree — temperature
  11. shower — to wash
  12. land — a country
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. season — in sport
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. land — to come down
  19. cold — an illness
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. degree — from a university
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. kick — a thrill

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