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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 · fan · deal · game · rash · kick · last

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. spring — a coil
  4. kick — in football
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — wild animals
  7. spring — of water
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. rash — hasty
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. rash — a series
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. deal — to handle
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. last — final
  22. game — a match
  23. spring — the season
  24. last — to go on

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