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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. game — a match
  3. content — happy
  4. season — in sport
  5. spell — a short time
  6. row — to paddle
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. spell — letters
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. land — to come down
  11. row — a line
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. content — the amount
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. land — ground
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. spell — magic
  23. land — a country
  24. game — wild animals

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