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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. lean — to bend
  3. pit — in a race
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. rash — hasty
  7. degree — from a university
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. lean — thin
  10. degree — temperature
  11. last — final
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. last — finally
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. kick — in football
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — money
  19. pit — a hole
  20. rash — a series
  21. last — to go on
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. degree — an amount

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