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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. field — for sport
  3. ball — a great time
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. spring — the season
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — farmland
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. plane — a tool
  11. present — there
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. stem — to come from
  16. ball — a dance
  17. kick — in football
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. present — a gift
  20. present — the time now
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — of water
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. bowl — a football final

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