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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: net · board · spring · cold · rock · kick · roll · perch

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. net — after costs
  3. board — to get on
  4. roll — a cake
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. roll — a list
  7. board — a committee
  8. perch — the fish
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. net — in sport
  11. rock — music
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. spring — of water
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. spring — the season
  18. rock — a stone
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. spring — a coil
  22. net — for catching
  23. kick — in football
  24. cold — not warm

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