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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. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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. cold — not warm
  4. kid — child
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. root — of a word
  8. kid — to tease
  9. land — to come down
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. cold — an illness
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. kick — in football
  15. land — a country
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — for catching
  18. root — the cause
  19. root — of a plant
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. land — ground
  22. net — in sport
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. ruler — for measuring

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