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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. game — a match
  4. sharp — clever
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. present — a gift
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. court — of law
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. mate — a partner
  12. present — the time now
  13. court — for sport
  14. mate — to breed
  15. row — to paddle
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. row — a line
  18. mate — a friend
  19. court — of a king
  20. kick — in football
  21. present — there
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. game — a kind of play

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