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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. mate — to breed
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. rush — hurry
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. bat — the animal
  11. tube — a container
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. mate — a partner
  14. tube — the underground
  15. fork — in a road
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. kick — in football
  19. mate — a friend
  20. scale — in music
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. scale — size or range

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