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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. game — a match
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. sharp — clever
  7. bat — the animal
  8. game — wild animals
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. perch — the fish
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. wound — an injury
  15. kick — in football
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. bear — the animal
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. bat — for baseball

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