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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 116 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'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. wind — moving air
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. spell — letters
  5. kick — in football
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. root — the cause
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. root — of a word
  12. kid — child
  13. bat — the animal
  14. spell — a short time
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. board — to get on
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. kid — to tease
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. spell — magic
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. root — of a plant
  24. pound — a weight

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