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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. season — of the year
  3. land — a country
  4. season — in sport
  5. spell — letters
  6. land — ground
  7. spell — magic
  8. current — of water
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. current — happening now
  11. rock — music
  12. rock — a stone
  13. current — electric
  14. spell — a short time
  15. row — a line
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. row — to paddle

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