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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. march — music
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wound — an injury
  8. swing — in golf
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. swing — to play on
  11. pitch — completely
  12. bear — the animal
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. deal — to handle
  15. wound — an injury
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. march — the month
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. march — the month
  20. kick — in football
  21. bear — the animal
  22. swing — music
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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