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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. content — happy
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. pop — soda
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. bat — the animal
  9. pop — music
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. pop — to visit
  12. tube — a container
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. snap — to click
  15. foot — a measure
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. tube — the underground
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. kick — in football
  24. content — the amount

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