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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. game — wild animals
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. squash — to crush
  5. squash — the sport
  6. spring — a coil
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. march — the month
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. kick — in football
  12. spring — of water
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. march — music
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. game — a match
  18. march — the month
  19. wake — a trail
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. spring — the season

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