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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. spell — a short time
  5. spring — the season
  6. current — happening now
  7. season — in sport
  8. row — a line
  9. current — electric
  10. game — wild animals
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. spell — letters
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. spring — of water
  16. row — to paddle
  17. spring — a coil
  18. season — of the year
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. spell — magic
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. current — of water
  24. kick — in football

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