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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 120 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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. foot — a measure
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. current — electric
  7. wound — an injury
  8. mark — a grade
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. kick — in football
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wake — a trail
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. current — happening now
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cell — a phone
  19. current — of water
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. mark — a trace
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. cell — in a prison

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