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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. spring — of water
  4. tube — the underground
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. kick — in football
  7. spring — the season
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. tube — a container
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. wind — moving air
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. bat — the animal
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. wind — moving air

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