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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 116 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. mate — a partner
  3. mate — a friend
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. season — of the year
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a leader
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bulb — for light
  11. season — in sport
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. spring — of water
  14. wound — an injury
  15. march — music
  16. spring — the season
  17. mate — to breed
  18. spring — a coil
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. march — the month
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. band — a music group
  24. march — the month

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