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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. shower — to wash
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. game — a match
  8. kick — in football
  9. game — wild animals
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. shower — rain
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — to tease
  21. plane — a tool
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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