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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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468
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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. spell — magic
  3. cold — an illness
  4. spell — letters
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. bat — the animal
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. kick — in football
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. wind — moving air
  13. prune — to trim
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. cold — not warm
  19. spell — a short time
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. wind — moving air
  22. prune — to trim
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. bat — for baseball

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