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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 116 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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cue — a hint
  3. kick — in football
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. bat — the animal
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. rush — hurry
  8. race — humankind
  9. snap — to click
  10. race — a contest
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. cue — for pool
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. row — to paddle
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. vault — a safe
  22. row — a line
  23. race — the arms race
  24. cue — a signal

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