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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. ball — a great time
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. field — for sport
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. rule — government
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. field — a subject
  10. season — of the year
  11. rule — a law
  12. spring — a coil
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. field — farmland
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. spring — of water
  18. spring — the season
  19. wound — an injury
  20. sharp — clever
  21. wound — an injury
  22. season — in sport
  23. ball — a dance
  24. sharp — with an edge

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