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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. land — ground
  5. field — farmland
  6. saw — the tool
  7. ball — a dance
  8. rush — hurry
  9. scale — in music
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. land — to come down
  14. scale — size or range
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. season — of the year
  17. field — for sport
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. season — in sport
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. land — a country
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. field — a subject

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