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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 120 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 don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. chest — a box
  5. suit — clothes
  6. game — wild animals
  7. band — a ring
  8. band — a music group
  9. chest — of your body
  10. kick — in football
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. suit — in cards
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. file — a document
  15. capital — a city
  16. file — a line of people
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. suit — to fit
  19. capital — money
  20. chest — of your body
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. file — a tool
  23. game — a match
  24. game — a kind of play

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