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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 120 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. last — final
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. season — in sport
  8. last — finally
  9. last — to go on
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. drill — a practice
  14. drill — army training
  15. fork — in a road
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mine — for digging
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. kick — in football
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. drill — the tool
  24. bowl — to roll

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