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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. season — of the year
  3. row — a line
  4. ball — a dance
  5. season — in sport
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. last — finally
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. ball — a great time
  11. pop — soda
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. pop — music
  15. land — ground
  16. last — final
  17. last — to go on
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. land — a country
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. row — to paddle
  22. pop — to visit
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. land — to come down

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