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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 · pit · wake · row · saw · season · game · pound

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. row — a line
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. season — of the year
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. pit — a hole
  11. saw — the tool
  12. kick — in football
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. season — in sport
  19. game — wild animals
  20. saw — the tool
  21. row — to paddle
  22. pit — in a race
  23. pound — a weight
  24. wake — a trail

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