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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. mate — to breed
  3. last — final
  4. mate — a friend
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. prune — to trim
  8. mate — a partner
  9. tube — the underground
  10. tube — a container
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. bore — to tire
  13. cold — not warm
  14. last — to go on
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wake — a trail
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. kick — in football
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bore — to drill
  24. last — finally

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