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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. drill — a practice
  10. drill — army training
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. kick — in football
  14. drill — the tool
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. rush — hurry
  18. season — in sport
  19. cold — not warm
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a match
  22. cold — an illness
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. racket — a loud noise

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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