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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. shower — rain
  4. pop — to visit
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. swing — in golf
  8. shower — to wash
  9. field — farmland
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — for sport
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. swing — music
  15. kick — in football
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. snap — to click
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. pop — soda
  20. kid — to tease
  21. foot — a measure
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. swing — to play on
  24. pop — music

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