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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. scale — in music
  4. land — a country
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. land — ground
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — to tease
  15. branch — a division
  16. kick — in football
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. shower — rain
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. land — to come down
  22. scale — size or range
  23. snap — to click
  24. shower — to wash

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