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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. drill — a practice
  4. lean — thin
  5. spring — of water
  6. wound — an injury
  7. last — final
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. toast — bread
  11. lean — to bend
  12. spring — the season
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. drill — the tool
  15. drill — army training
  16. wake — a trail
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. spring — a coil
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. kick — in football
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wound — an injury
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — finally

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