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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. net — in sport
  3. land — ground
  4. spring — of water
  5. spring — the season
  6. fine — all right
  7. land — a country
  8. game — a match
  9. spring — a coil
  10. net — after costs
  11. fine — high quality
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. land — to come down
  15. net — for catching
  16. season — in sport
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. fine — a penalty

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