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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. hand — in cards
  5. charge — in control
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. hand — help
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. field — farmland
  10. charge — a price
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. field — for sport
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. stem — to come from
  15. kick — in football
  16. mine — for digging
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. field — a subject
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. charge — electricity
  22. tube — a container
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tube — in a tire

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