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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 116 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: spring · kid · kick · march · chair · snap

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. spring — the season
  3. kid — child
  4. march — the month
  5. spring — of water
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. kid — to tease
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. spring — a coil
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kick — in football
  13. snap — to click
  14. chair — a leader
  15. march — the month
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. march — music

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