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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: season · cold · wave · swing · kick · racket · bore · stem

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. season — of the year
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. stem — to come from
  8. bore — to tire
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. swing — music
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. cold — not warm
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. swing — in golf
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. season — in sport
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. swing — to play on
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. bore — to drill

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