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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. kid — to tease
  3. spring — the season
  4. club — a group
  5. season — of the year
  6. kid — child
  7. spring — of water
  8. mate — a partner
  9. spring — a coil
  10. ground — the earth
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. mate — to breed
  13. ground — a position
  14. last — to go on
  15. mate — a friend
  16. last — finally
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. last — final
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. season — in sport
  21. club — for dancing
  22. chair — a leader
  23. club — for golf
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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