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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. kick — in football
  4. spring — the season
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. spring — a coil
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. perch — the fish
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. bat — the animal
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. shower — rain
  19. spring — of water
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. branch — a division

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