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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. squash — the sport
  5. hand — in cards
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. court — of a king
  9. court — of law
  10. squash — to crush
  11. kick — in football
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. tube — a container
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. court — for sport
  17. tube — the underground
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. hand — help
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. pound — a weight
  24. rash — a series

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