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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. kick — in football
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bat — the animal
  6. root — the cause
  7. court — for sport
  8. root — of a plant
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. court — of law
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. stock — shares
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. court — of a king
  22. root — of a word
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. stock — goods

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