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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. game — wild animals
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. tube — a container
  6. field — a subject
  7. wind — moving air
  8. kick — in football
  9. field — for sport
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. bear — the animal
  15. game — a match
  16. field — farmland
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bear — the animal
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. pitch — completely
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. tube — the underground
  24. wind — to turn a key

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