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

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. spell — magic
  4. swing — music
  5. pop — soda
  6. kick — in football
  7. spell — a short time
  8. shower — rain
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pop — to visit
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pop — music
  14. shower — to wash
  15. swing — in golf
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. cold — an illness
  18. spell — letters

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