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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. season — of the year
  3. ball — a dance
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. roll — a list
  10. shower — to wash
  11. ball — a great time
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. kick — in football
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. season — in sport
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. shower — rain
  20. roll — a cake
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. wind — moving air

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