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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 116 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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. tube — the underground
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. cell — in biology
  5. object — an aim
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. bark — to shout
  9. board — a committee
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. tube — a container
  13. hand — help
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. pound — a weight
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — in cards
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. kick — in football
  21. cell — a phone
  22. object — a thing
  23. object — to protest
  24. board — to get on

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