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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  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. bat — the animal
  2. suit — in cards
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. season — in sport
  6. chest — of your body
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. chest — of your body
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. game — a match
  11. suit — to fit
  12. shower — to wash
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. chest — a box
  15. season — of the year
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. game — wild animals
  19. suit — clothes
  20. bulb — for light
  21. bulb — for light
  22. kick — in football
  23. bulb — of a plant
  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