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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. last — finally
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. chair — a leader
  6. bore — to tire
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. current — happening now
  9. prune — to trim
  10. kick — in football
  11. prune — to trim
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. chest — of your body
  14. current — of water
  15. last — to go on
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. game — wild animals
  20. last — final
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — a box
  23. bore — to drill
  24. current — electric

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