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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. game — a match
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — a break
  5. squash — the sport
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. rash — a series
  8. squash — to crush
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. wind — moving air
  11. fall — to drop
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. fall — to drop
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — in football
  19. rash — hasty
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. wind — moving air
  22. fall — the season
  23. game — wild animals
  24. rest — what's left

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