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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 train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. spell — letters
  6. ball — a great time
  7. spell — a short time
  8. ball — a dance
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — the animal
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — the tool
  14. last — final
  15. rash — a series
  16. drill — army training
  17. stand — to bear
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. kick — in football
  20. rash — hasty
  21. last — to go on
  22. last — finally
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. spell — magic

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