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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 120 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: spring · trunk · game · fan · staff · row · kick · swing

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. staff — a stick
  4. game — wild animals
  5. staff — employees
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. swing — to play on
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. game — a match
  11. kick — in football
  12. staff — employees
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. row — to paddle
  15. spring — the season
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. spring — of water
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. swing — music
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. swing — in golf
  24. spring — a coil

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