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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cold — an illness
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. rash — a series
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. mug — a cup
  10. rush — hurry
  11. kick — in football
  12. pound — a weight
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. rash — hasty
  15. mug — a face
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. drill — army training
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. drill — a practice
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mug — to rob
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. drill — the tool
  24. rush — a thrill

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