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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 120 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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. chest — of your body
  4. row — a line
  5. fine — high quality
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. kick — in football
  8. file — a tool
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. file — a line of people
  11. row — to paddle
  12. key — for a lock
  13. key — the most important part
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. fine — all right
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. chest — a box
  21. key — in music
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. file — a document
  24. chest — of your body

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