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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 116 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. rule — government
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. net — for catching
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. ball — a great time
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. ball — a dance
  14. fork — in a road
  15. shower — rain
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. kick — in football
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. capital — money
  20. net — in sport
  21. capital — a city
  22. net — after costs
  23. rule — a law
  24. capital — a big letter

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