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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. cell — a phone
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. hand — in cards
  8. squash — the sport
  9. ground — a position
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. cell — in biology
  12. land — ground
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. wake — a trail
  15. land — a country
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — help
  18. kick — in football
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. ground — the earth
  22. ground — crushed
  23. squash — to crush
  24. land — to come down

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