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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. mate — a partner
  3. pop — to visit
  4. tear — from crying
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — child
  7. bat — the animal
  8. press — a publisher
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. mate — a friend
  11. root — the cause
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. mate — to breed
  14. root — of a plant
  15. press — to push
  16. kick — in football
  17. pop — soda
  18. pop — music
  19. tear — from crying
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. press — newspapers
  23. tear — to rip
  24. root — of a word

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