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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: scale · racket · calf · cold · deal · spring · land · kick

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. scale — in music
  6. cold — an illness
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. spring — of water
  9. land — to come down
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. cold — not warm
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. scale — size or range
  14. land — a country
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. land — ground
  21. deal — to handle
  22. spring — a coil
  23. spring — the season
  24. kick — in football

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