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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. fork — in a road
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. kick — in football
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. wound — an injury
  18. pitch — completely
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. bat — the animal

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