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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. prune — to trim
  4. key — the most important part
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cap — a hat
  7. staff — a stick
  8. cap — of ice
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. staff — employees
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. game — a match
  14. kick — in football
  15. wound — an injury
  16. key — for a lock
  17. key — in music
  18. wound — an injury
  19. hand — help
  20. hand — in cards
  21. cap — a lid
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. game — wild animals
  24. staff — employees

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