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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 116 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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. tear — from crying
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. swing — to play on
  12. swing — music
  13. mine — for digging
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bat — the animal
  18. kick — in football
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. degree — an amount
  23. wax — to grow
  24. swing — in golf

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