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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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468
Word bank
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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. spring — of water
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. date — the fruit
  7. cold — not warm
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. mine — for digging
  10. spring — the season
  11. rash — a series
  12. cold — an illness
  13. kick — in football
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. spring — a coil
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. rash — hasty

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