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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. cap — a lid
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. branch — a division
  5. season — in sport
  6. chip — for betting
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. chip — to eat
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. tube — the underground
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. fork — in a road
  16. tube — a container
  17. cold — not warm
  18. swing — music
  19. cold — an illness
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. swing — to play on
  23. cap — of ice
  24. swing — in golf

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