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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. ball — a dance
  6. net — after costs
  7. rock — music
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wind — moving air
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. net — for catching
  12. prune — to trim
  13. hand — in cards
  14. rock — a stone
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. wind — moving air
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. hand — help
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. ball — a great time
  24. kick — in football

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