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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. stem — to come from
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. scale — size or range
  9. kick — in football
  10. bat — the animal
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. snap — to click
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. scale — in music
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. track — a song
  19. pound — a weight
  20. track — to keep track
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. pass — a permit
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. track — a path

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