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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. key — for a lock
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. kick — in football
  7. degree — temperature
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. saw — the tool
  10. sharp — clever
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. degree — an amount
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. bear — the animal
  16. key — the most important part
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bear — the animal
  19. pitch — completely
  20. key — in music
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. degree — from a university
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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