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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. rest — what's left
  3. cold — not warm
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. ball — a dance
  6. perch — the fish
  7. stock — shares
  8. chair — a leader
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. ball — a great time
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rest — a break
  18. stock — goods
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. kick — in football
  22. season — of the year
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. kick — with a leg

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