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

Word bank: pop · cold · snap · kick · charge · wound · rush · cell

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. charge — electricity
  4. kick — in football
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. pop — soda
  7. cold — an illness
  8. charge — in control
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. rush — hurry
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. charge — a price
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wound — an injury
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. snap — to click
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in biology
  21. pop — music
  22. pop — to visit
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. wound — an injury

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