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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cap — a lid
  3. chest — a box
  4. chest — of your body
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. chest — of your body
  7. key — the most important part
  8. cap — of ice
  9. spring — a coil
  10. prune — to trim
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. squash — the sport
  13. key — in music
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. spring — the season
  16. key — for a lock
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. cap — a hat
  19. spring — of water
  20. kick — in football
  21. prune — to trim
  22. pound — a weight
  23. squash — to crush
  24. prune — the fruit

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