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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: spring · swing · pitcher · cold · wake · kick · toast · bear

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  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. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. swing — music
  3. spring — a coil
  4. toast — bread
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. wake — a trail
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. cold — not warm
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. bear — the animal
  15. swing — to play on
  16. spring — the season
  17. bear — the animal
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. spring — of water
  20. swing — in golf
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. bear — to put up with
  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