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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. roll — a cake
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. clip — a video
  6. spring — the season
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. spring — of water
  9. season — of the year
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. season — in sport
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. roll — a list
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. row — to paddle
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. kick — in football
  23. row — a line
  24. wave — with your hand

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