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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. mug — to rob
  4. land — ground
  5. march — the month
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. net — in sport
  8. game — wild animals
  9. mug — a cup
  10. march — music
  11. net — after costs
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. land — a country
  14. season — in sport
  15. mug — a face
  16. game — a match
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. land — to come down
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. net — for catching
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. march — the month
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. date — the fruit

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