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

Word bank: kick · swing · chest · spring · wave · stand

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. spring — a coil
  3. swing — music
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. chest — of your body
  9. kick — in football
  10. stand — to bear
  11. spring — of water
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. chest — a box
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. swing — to play on
  17. swing — in golf
  18. spring — the season

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