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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. hand — help
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. wind — moving air
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. wind — moving air
  10. swing — to play on
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — in cards
  13. game — a match
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. swing — music
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. stand — to bear
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. swing — in golf
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. kick — in football
  24. game — wild animals

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