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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. squash — to crush
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. game — a match
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. mug — to rob
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mug — a cup
  12. chip — to eat
  13. cold — an illness
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. squash — the sport
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. kick — in football
  19. chip — for betting
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. row — a line
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. game — wild animals
  24. row — to paddle

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