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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  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. season — of the year
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. club — for golf
  4. club — a group
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. chip — for betting
  7. game — a match
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. club — for dancing
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. game — wild animals
  16. press — to push
  17. chip — to eat
  18. season — in sport
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. press — a publisher
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. press — newspapers
  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