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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. chip — to eat
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. shower — to wash
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. shower — rain
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. hand — help
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. cold — an illness
  19. season — in sport
  20. chip — for betting
  21. cold — not warm
  22. kick — in football
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. hand — in cards

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