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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 116 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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468
Word bank
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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. track — a song
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. kick — in football
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. cold — an illness
  12. chair — a leader
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. track — to keep track
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. club — for dancing
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. club — for golf
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. club — a group
  24. track — a path

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