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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. drill — a practice
  3. chest — a box
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. drill — army training
  7. file — a tool
  8. key — for a lock
  9. chest — of your body
  10. key — in music
  11. file — a document
  12. kick — in football
  13. drill — the tool
  14. chest — of your body
  15. scale — in music
  16. hand — in cards
  17. scale — size or range
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. file — a line of people
  22. hand — help
  23. key — the most important part
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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