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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  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. coach — a trainer
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. object — to protest
  6. rest — what's left
  7. object — a thing
  8. rush — hurry
  9. rest — a break
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. object — an aim
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. rest — what's left
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. kick — in football
  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