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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. kick — in football
  4. perch — the fish
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. shower — to wash
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. shower — rain
  11. row — a line
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. bat — the animal
  14. row — to paddle
  15. wax — to grow
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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