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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. rush — hurry
  3. face — to point toward
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. kick — in football
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. file — a tool
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. squash — to crush
  11. sharp — clever
  12. face — part of the head
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. pound — a weight
  15. squash — the sport
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. file — a line of people
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. bark — to shout
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. face — to confront
  23. file — a document
  24. kick — with a leg

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