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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. swing — in golf
  3. kick — in football
  4. swing — music
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. rush — hurry
  7. cue — a hint
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. rash — hasty
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. rash — a series
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. cue — a signal
  16. wake — a trail
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cue — for pool
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bat — the animal
  22. swing — to play on
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rash — on the skin

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