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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 116 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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. land — a country
  4. kick — in football
  5. swing — in golf
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. present — a gift
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. season — in sport
  10. present — there
  11. swing — to play on
  12. perch — the fish
  13. land — ground
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. field — for sport
  18. swing — music
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — a subject
  21. season — of the year
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. present — the time now
  24. land — to come down

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