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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 116 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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. plane — a tool
  3. file — a line of people
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. kick — in football
  14. degree — an amount
  15. file — a tool
  16. pit — a hole
  17. file — a document
  18. fork — in a road
  19. degree — temperature
  20. rush — hurry
  21. pit — in a race
  22. degree — from a university
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. plane — an aircraft

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