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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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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. rule — government
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in biology
  8. rule — a law
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. spring — of water
  11. spell — magic
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spell — letters
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. spring — the season
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. spell — a short time
  19. kick — in football
  20. perch — the fish
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. pitcher — a jug

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