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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. object — an aim
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. cue — for pool
  5. file — a line of people
  6. mate — a friend
  7. kick — in football
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. hand — in cards
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. hand — help
  12. object — a thing
  13. object — to protest
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. file — a tool
  16. cue — a signal
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. dip — to sink
  20. bat — the animal
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. mate — to breed
  23. file — a document
  24. cue — a hint

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