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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. march — the month
  3. wake — a trail
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. rush — hurry
  7. scale — in music
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. kick — in football
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. scale — size or range
  14. march — music
  15. spring — a coil
  16. lie — to recline
  17. march — the month
  18. spring — the season
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. spring — of water
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. straw — dry grass

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