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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. chest — of your body
  4. kick — in football
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. chest — a box
  7. last — finally
  8. net — for catching
  9. stock — goods
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. chest — of your body
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. net — in sport
  14. last — to go on
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. spring — of water
  17. toast — bread
  18. net — after costs
  19. spring — a coil
  20. stock — shares
  21. cold — an illness
  22. last — final
  23. cold — not warm
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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