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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: shower · kick · snap · row · press · cap · patient · chip

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. shower — to wash
  4. cap — a lid
  5. row — to paddle
  6. snap — to click
  7. kick — in football
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — a line
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. chip — for betting
  12. chip — to eat
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. cap — of ice
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. press — a publisher
  17. press — newspapers
  18. press — to push
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. cap — a hat
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. shower — rain

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