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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. spring — the season
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. dip — to sink
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. season — of the year
  11. spring — of water
  12. field — farmland
  13. spring — a coil
  14. field — for sport
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. lie — to recline
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. season — in sport
  19. field — a subject
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — not warm
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. stand — for spectators

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