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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. mug — to rob
  3. wound — an injury
  4. cap — a lid
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mug — a face
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. cold — an illness
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. scale — in music
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. deal — to handle
  14. squash — to crush
  15. scale — size or range
  16. squash — the sport
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. cap — a hat
  19. mug — a cup
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. wound — an injury
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. cap — of ice
  24. kick — in football

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