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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bat · lean · cell · pop · ground · file · kick · hand

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. lean — thin
  3. ground — crushed
  4. pop — music
  5. bat — the animal
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. cell — in biology
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. pop — to visit
  12. pop — soda
  13. file — a line of people
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. file — a tool
  16. lean — to bend
  17. ground — the earth
  18. kick — in football
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. ground — a position
  21. file — a document
  22. cell — a phone
  23. hand — help
  24. lean — to rest against

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