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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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Word bank
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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. wind — moving air
  3. kick — in football
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — a short time
  6. wind — moving air
  7. spell — magic
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. cell — a phone
  11. scale — in music
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — the season
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. cell — in biology
  19. squash — the sport
  20. fine — all right
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. fine — high quality
  23. squash — to crush
  24. squash — the vegetable

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