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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. season — in sport
  5. mine — for digging
  6. land — to come down
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. fall — to drop
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. land — a country
  14. fall — the season
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. land — ground
  17. craft — a skill
  18. march — the month
  19. craft — boats
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — an illness
  23. fall — to drop
  24. craft — a handicraft

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