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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kick · drill · hand · kid · toast · cell

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — in cards
  5. drill — army training
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. kid — to tease
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — a phone
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. toast — bread
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. drill — a practice
  16. cell — in biology
  17. kid — child
  18. drill — the tool

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