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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. kick — in football
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. fork — in a road
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. pop — to visit
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. pop — music
  10. pop — soda
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. degree — from a university
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. cold — an illness
  16. snap — to click
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — temperature

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