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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. kick — in football
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pound — a weight
  11. fall — to drop
  12. perch — the fish
  13. key — the most important part
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. key — in music
  16. key — for a lock
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. cold — not warm
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a music group
  22. cold — an illness
  23. fall — the season
  24. fall — to drop

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