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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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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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. chest — of your body
  4. file — a document
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. rock — music
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. mine — for digging
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. hand — in cards
  15. rock — a stone
  16. file — a tool
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. wax — to grow
  19. kick — in football
  20. chest — a box
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. hand — help
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. bowl — a football final

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