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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: chair · straw · stock · spring · season · kick · row · game

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. kick — in football
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. spring — of water
  5. season — in sport
  6. row — to paddle
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. game — wild animals
  9. spring — the season
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. chair — a leader
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. spring — a coil
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. stock — shares
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. stock — goods
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. row — a line
  22. game — a match
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. kick — a thrill

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