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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 124 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. spell — a short time
  5. track — a path
  6. pop — music
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. pitch — completely
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. fall — to drop
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. spell — letters
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — the season
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — the animal
  17. track — to keep track
  18. row — a line
  19. track — a song
  20. spell — magic
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. pop — soda
  23. row — to paddle
  24. kick — in football

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