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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. ball — a great time
  3. chip — to eat
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. kick — in football
  7. cold — not warm
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — for digging
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. pitch — completely
  17. chip — for betting
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. ball — a dance
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. prune — to trim
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. cold — an illness

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