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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 116 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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. spring — of water
  3. fall — the season
  4. spring — a coil
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. shower — rain
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. present — there
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. vault — a safe
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. shower — to wash
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. fall — to drop
  20. present — a gift
  21. spring — the season
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. present — the time now
  24. fall — to drop

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