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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 120 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. spring — of water
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. spring — a coil
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. staff — a stick
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. kick — in football
  14. file — a line of people
  15. spring — the season
  16. season — of the year
  17. file — a tool
  18. staff — employees
  19. shower — to wash
  20. wake — a trail
  21. file — a document
  22. staff — employees
  23. season — in sport
  24. shower — rain

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