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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. cap — a hat
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. spring — the season
  5. cap — a lid
  6. kick — in football
  7. current — happening now
  8. cap — of ice
  9. cold — not warm
  10. net — in sport
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. tear — to rip
  13. tear — from crying
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. tear — from crying
  16. cold — an illness
  17. current — of water
  18. net — for catching
  19. ball — a dance
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — a coil
  22. ball — a great time
  23. current — electric
  24. net — after costs

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