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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. wind — moving air
  3. date — the fruit
  4. cold — not warm
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. chest — of your body
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. perch — the fish
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. wind — moving air
  23. fork — in a road
  24. leaves — lets stay

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