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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. band — a music group
  6. charge — electricity
  7. drill — a practice
  8. root — of a word
  9. swing — music
  10. drill — army training
  11. band — a ring
  12. wound — an injury
  13. charge — a price
  14. drill — the tool
  15. wound — an injury
  16. kick — in football
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. swing — in golf
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. bat — the animal
  21. charge — in control
  22. swing — to play on
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — the cause

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