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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. lean — thin
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. row — a line
  7. cap — a lid
  8. cap — a hat
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. cap — of ice
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. hand — in cards
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. kick — in football
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. lean — to bend
  19. hand — help
  20. row — to paddle
  21. rash — a series
  22. rash — hasty
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. temple — side of the head

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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