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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. season — in sport
  3. mark — a trace
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wound — an injury
  6. mark — a grade
  7. cold — an illness
  8. season — of the year
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. can — to be able to
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. key — in music
  14. wound — an injury
  15. date — the fruit
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. key — for a lock
  19. row — a line
  20. key — the most important part
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. row — to paddle
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. can — a tin

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