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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. hand — help
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. kick — in football
  8. hand — in cards
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. sharp — clever
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. stock — shares
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. row — a line
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. stock — goods
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wound — an injury
  24. row — to paddle

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