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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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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. game — wild animals
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. stock — goods
  10. march — the month
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. ground — a position
  13. perch — the fish
  14. stock — shares
  15. ground — the earth
  16. march — music
  17. lean — to bend
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. ground — crushed
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. march — the month
  23. game — a match
  24. lean — thin

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