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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. game — wild animals
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. mug — to rob
  5. kick — in football
  6. chair — a leader
  7. fall — to drop
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. scale — size or range
  11. scale — in music
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. snap — to click
  15. fall — the season
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. perch — the fish
  19. game — a match
  20. fall — to drop
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. mug — a cup

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