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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. roll — a list
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. mark — a trace
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. roll — a cake
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. mark — a grade
  9. squash — the sport
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. kick — in football
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. march — music
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. wind — moving air
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. march — the month
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. march — the month
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. squash — to crush
  24. wind — moving air

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