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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: season · current · pop · game · date · kick · present · cold

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. pop — soda
  3. current — of water
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. current — electric
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. kick — in football
  8. pop — to visit
  9. season — in sport
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. pop — music
  13. present — there
  14. cold — not warm
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. present — a gift
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. cold — an illness
  19. current — happening now
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. game — a match
  22. game — wild animals
  23. date — the fruit
  24. present — the time now

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