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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pop — to visit
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. pop — music
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. sharp — clever
  11. craft — boats
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. pop — soda
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. kick — in football
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. can — a tin
  19. wind — moving air
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. craft — a skill
  22. cold — an illness
  23. can — to be able to
  24. can — a tin

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