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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. sharp — clever
  9. object — a thing
  10. content — happy
  11. stand — to bear
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. object — an aim
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. row — to paddle
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. kick — in football
  22. content — the amount
  23. row — a line
  24. object — to protest

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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