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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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Word bank
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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. cold — not warm
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. club — a group
  7. club — for golf
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. cold — an illness
  10. kick — in football
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. club — for dancing
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. capital — money
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. capital — a city
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. mine — for digging
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. snap — to click
  24. cabinet — ministers

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