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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. game — wild animals
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. rest — a break
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rest — what's left
  10. kick — in football
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. rule — a law
  13. content — happy
  14. game — a match
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. wax — to grow
  17. content — the amount
  18. rule — government
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — to tease
  24. shower — to wash

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