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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. kick — in football
  7. hand — in cards
  8. sharp — clever
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wind — moving air
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. ground — crushed
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. tube — a container
  17. tube — the underground
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. hand — help
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. ground — a position
  22. stand — to bear
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. ground — the earth

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