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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'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. game — a match
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. prune — to trim
  6. court — of law
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. firm — a company
  9. court — for sport
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. prune — to trim
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. kick — in football
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. land — ground
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. bat — the animal
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. land — to come down
  21. court — of a king
  22. game — wild animals
  23. firm — decided
  24. land — a country

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