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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 120 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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Word bank
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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. spell — a short time
  3. drill — the tool
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. spell — magic
  6. pit — a hole
  7. court — for sport
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. court — of law
  11. spell — letters
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. capital — a city
  14. pit — in a race
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. drill — a practice
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. capital — money
  21. court — of a king
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. kick — in football
  24. drill — army training

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