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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. field — for sport
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. cue — a hint
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bank — for money
  9. land — ground
  10. field — a subject
  11. land — a country
  12. field — farmland
  13. bank — for money
  14. sharp — clever
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. kick — in football
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. cue — for pool
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. land — to come down
  22. cue — a signal
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. bank — of a river

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