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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. rock — music
  4. mine — for digging
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. season — of the year
  13. net — for catching
  14. ground — the earth
  15. ground — a position
  16. rock — a stone
  17. wind — moving air
  18. season — in sport
  19. ground — crushed
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. net — in sport
  22. kick — in football
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. net — after costs

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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