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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. spell — letters
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. stand — to bear
  7. net — for catching
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. hand — in cards
  14. spell — magic
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. net — after costs
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. sharp — clever
  19. spell — a short time
  20. net — in sport
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. date — the fruit
  23. kick — in football
  24. patient — a sick person

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