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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. shower — to wash
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. kick — in football
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. ground — a position
  8. can — to be able to
  9. capital — money
  10. mug — a face
  11. mug — a cup
  12. cold — not warm
  13. capital — a city
  14. can — a tin
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. ground — the earth
  17. shower — rain
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. ground — crushed
  21. mug — to rob
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. can — a tin

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