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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. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. bat — the animal
  6. lie — to recline
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. sharp — clever
  11. drill — a practice
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. pitch — completely
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. drill — the tool
  19. degree — from a university
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. kick — in football
  22. drill — army training
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — temperature

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