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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. kick — in football
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cold — an illness
  7. tear — to rip
  8. rest — a break
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bore — to tire
  12. net — after costs
  13. rest — what's left
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fork — in a road
  16. net — for catching
  17. bore — to drill
  18. cell — a phone
  19. rest — what's left
  20. cell — in biology
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. net — in sport
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. cold — not warm

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