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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 ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. key — the most important part
  4. cell — a phone
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. key — for a lock
  7. prune — to trim
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. pop — to visit
  10. key — in music
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. squash — the sport
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. kick — in football
  18. pass — a permit
  19. squash — to crush
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. pop — soda
  23. pop — music
  24. cell — in biology

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