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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. season — in sport
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. race — humankind
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. spring — the season
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. spring — of water
  10. row — to paddle
  11. date — the fruit
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kick — in football
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. row — a line
  17. race — a contest
  18. plane — a tool
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. race — the arms race
  24. spring — a coil

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