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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. pit — a hole
  3. last — final
  4. last — finally
  5. file — a tool
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. pit — in a race
  8. court — for sport
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. court — of a king
  11. dip — to sink
  12. root — of a plant
  13. file — a document
  14. ball — a dance
  15. root — the cause
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. file — a line of people
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. root — of a word
  20. last — to go on
  21. kick — in football
  22. court — of law
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. ball — a great time

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