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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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. fine — all right
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. tube — a container
  5. present — the time now
  6. spring — a coil
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. shower — to wash
  9. row — a line
  10. fine — high quality
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. row — to paddle
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. snap — to click
  17. spring — of water
  18. present — a gift
  19. spring — the season
  20. shower — rain
  21. kick — in football
  22. present — there
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. tube — the underground

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