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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 124 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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. ground — crushed
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. prune — to trim
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. kick — in football
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. cold — not warm
  11. ground — the earth
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. pass — a permit
  16. cold — an illness
  17. ground — a position
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bat — the animal
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. snap — to click

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