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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. mate — a friend
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. last — finally
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. last — final
  10. date — the fruit
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mate — a partner
  13. kick — in football
  14. perch — the fish
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. last — to go on
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. mate — to breed
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. wind — moving air
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. season — in sport

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