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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. season — of the year
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. race — a contest
  5. cold — an illness
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. staff — a stick
  8. season — in sport
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. staff — employees
  11. rock — a stone
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. march — the month
  15. rock — music
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. sharp — clever
  20. cold — not warm
  21. march — music
  22. march — the month
  23. race — humankind
  24. race — the arms race

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