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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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. saw — the tool
  4. file — a tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. land — to come down
  7. file — a line of people
  8. pop — music
  9. pop — to visit
  10. kick — in football
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. pop — soda
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. plane — a tool
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. pit — a hole
  20. file — a document
  21. chair — a leader
  22. land — ground
  23. pit — in a race
  24. land — a country

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