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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. hand — help
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. spring — the season
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. kick — in football
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. swing — in golf
  11. spring — of water
  12. cap — a lid
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. swing — music
  15. spring — a coil
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. cap — a hat
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. cell — in biology
  21. hand — in cards
  22. wake — a trail
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cap — of ice

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