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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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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: kick · season · branch · kid · arm · pop · ground · hand

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. pop — to visit
  3. hand — help
  4. kid — to tease
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. season — in sport
  9. pop — soda
  10. branch — a division
  11. kick — in football
  12. hand — in cards
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. pop — music
  15. ground — crushed
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. season — of the year
  19. kid — child
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. ground — a position
  22. ground — the earth
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. branch — of a tree

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