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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 120 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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. hand — in cards
  5. cue — a hint
  6. kick — in football
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. cue — for pool
  9. capital — a city
  10. hand — help
  11. cue — a signal
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. bat — the animal
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. pound — a weight
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. capital — money
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. sharp — clever
  24. fan — a supporter

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