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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. content — happy
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. content — the amount
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. kick — in football
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. file — a document
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. file — a tool
  14. plane — a tool
  15. land — ground
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. land — to come down
  18. rush — hurry
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. sharp — clever
  21. land — a country
  22. file — a line of people
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. deal — to handle

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