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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. firm — a company
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. cell — a phone
  7. firm — steady
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. net — in sport
  10. hand — help
  11. net — after costs
  12. firm — decided
  13. game — a match
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. stem — to come from
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. net — for catching
  18. sharp — clever
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. cell — in biology
  22. kick — in football
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. game — wild animals

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