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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. kick — with a leg
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. firm — a company
  5. bore — to tire
  6. face — part of the head
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. spring — a coil
  9. cold — an illness
  10. kick — in football
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a ring
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. spring — the season
  16. face — to confront
  17. face — to point toward
  18. firm — steady
  19. spring — of water
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. bore — to drill
  22. firm — decided
  23. cold — not warm
  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