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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. tube — the underground
  7. last — finally
  8. last — to go on
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. last — final
  13. rash — hasty
  14. bat — the animal
  15. row — a line
  16. kick — in football
  17. capital — money
  18. rash — a series
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. tube — a container
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. capital — a city
  24. row — to paddle

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