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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. perch — the fish
  4. mate — to breed
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — the season
  9. mate — a partner
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — for sport
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — a container
  15. mate — a friend
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. wake — a trail
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. spring — of water
  20. date — the fruit
  21. tube — the underground
  22. field — farmland
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. kick — a thrill

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