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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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. fork — in a road
  3. prune — to trim
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. wound — an injury
  6. last — finally
  7. rule — government
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. wound — an injury
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. game — a match
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. last — final
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. prune — to trim
  16. row — a line
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. game — wild animals
  20. last — to go on
  21. rule — a law
  22. row — to paddle
  23. kick — in football
  24. kick — with a leg

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