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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 chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  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. rule — to rule out
  3. rule — government
  4. kick — in football
  5. march — the month
  6. sharp — clever
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. march — music
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cell — a phone
  11. land — ground
  12. tube — the underground
  13. rule — a law
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. cell — in biology
  16. land — a country
  17. tube — a container
  18. march — the month
  19. perch — the fish
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. land — to come down
  23. perch — for a bird
  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