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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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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. season — of the year
  3. chest — a box
  4. spring — a coil
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. wind — moving air
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a great time
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. wind — moving air
  15. chest — of your body
  16. ball — a dance
  17. branch — a division
  18. shower — to wash
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spring — of water
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. shower — rain
  23. sharp — clever
  24. spring — the season

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