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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 116 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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. cap — a hat
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. rock — a stone
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. kick — in football
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bat — the animal
  16. cap — of ice
  17. pitch — completely
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cap — a lid
  21. prune — to trim
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. cabinet — ministers

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