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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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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. fine — all right
  4. mate — a friend
  5. saw — the tool
  6. spring — of water
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. kick — in football
  10. spring — a coil
  11. fine — high quality
  12. saw — the tool
  13. rash — hasty
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. tube — the underground
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. rash — a series
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. bat — the animal
  20. spring — the season
  21. mate — to breed
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. mate — a partner
  24. tube — a container

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