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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. track — to keep track
  3. net — for catching
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. chest — of your body
  6. net — after costs
  7. track — a path
  8. cold — not warm
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. wake — a trail
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. cold — an illness
  19. chest — a box
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. track — a song
  23. foot — a measure
  24. net — in 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