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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. sharp — clever
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. kick — in football
  7. degree — an amount
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. shower — rain
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. degree — temperature
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. degree — from a university
  18. shower — to wash
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — to tease
  23. fork — in a road
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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