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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 124 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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. kick — in football
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. game — a match
  5. file — a tool
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. rest — a break
  8. rule — government
  9. rest — what's left
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. kid — child
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. rest — what's left
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. file — a line of people
  18. rule — a law
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. game — wild animals
  23. cell — in biology
  24. file — a document

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