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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. shower — rain
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. pop — soda
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. spring — a coil
  9. branch — a division
  10. swing — in golf
  11. shower — to wash
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. spell — a short time
  15. spring — of water
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. pop — to visit
  18. kick — in football
  19. spell — magic
  20. swing — to play on
  21. spring — the season
  22. pop — music
  23. spell — letters
  24. swing — music

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