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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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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cold — not warm
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. tear — to rip
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. scale — size or range
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. tear — from crying
  10. face — part of the head
  11. scale — in music
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. face — to confront
  14. tear — from crying
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fork — in a road
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. kick — in football
  24. face — to point toward

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