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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. net — in sport
  3. chip — for betting
  4. cold — an illness
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. can — a tin
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. season — in sport
  11. kid — to tease
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. chip — to eat
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — after costs
  18. plane — a tool
  19. can — to be able to
  20. can — a tin
  21. kid — child
  22. cold — not warm
  23. kick — in football
  24. chip — in a computer

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