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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 120 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. capital — a city
  3. craft — boats
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. shower — to wash
  11. net — for catching
  12. shower — rain
  13. net — after costs
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. rash — hasty
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. kick — in football
  18. net — in sport
  19. capital — money
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. row — to paddle
  22. row — a line
  23. rash — a series
  24. craft — a skill

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