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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: cold · spring · march · track · hand · fan · kick · foot

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — a coil
  3. track — a song
  4. march — the month
  5. spring — the season
  6. kick — in football
  7. cold — not warm
  8. march — the month
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. track — a path
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. hand — in cards
  13. foot — a measure
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. hand — help
  17. track — to keep track
  18. cold — an illness
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. march — music
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. foot — the bottom

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