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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. pop — soda
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. spell — a short time
  7. kick — in football
  8. spring — of water
  9. pop — to visit
  10. spring — a coil
  11. stock — goods
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — the animal
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. spell — magic
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. spell — letters
  18. stock — shares
  19. track — a path
  20. track — a song
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. track — to keep track
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. pop — music

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