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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. object — an aim
  3. game — a match
  4. cell — a phone
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. game — wild animals
  7. land — a country
  8. tube — a container
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. object — to protest
  11. tube — the underground
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. bound — obliged
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — ground
  17. pitch — completely
  18. kick — in football
  19. object — a thing
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. bound — tied together
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bound — certain

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