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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. shower — to wash
  4. cap — of ice
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. cap — a hat
  10. court — of law
  11. chest — a box
  12. saw — the tool
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. saw — the tool
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. cap — a lid
  18. chest — of your body
  19. court — of a king
  20. bat — the animal
  21. kick — in football
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. court — for sport

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