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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. ground — the earth
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cell — in biology
  7. row — a line
  8. hand — help
  9. ground — crushed
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. hand — in cards
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wake — a trail
  14. row — to paddle
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. chip — for betting
  17. net — after costs
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. kick — in football
  20. chip — to eat
  21. ground — a position
  22. net — in sport
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. wake — before a funeral

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