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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. kick — in football
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. file — a document
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. game — wild animals
  10. file — a line of people
  11. cold — not warm
  12. band — a music group
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. cold — an illness
  15. band — a ring
  16. present — there
  17. file — a tool
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. game — a match
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. present — a gift
  24. chest — of your body

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