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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. row — to paddle
  3. spell — magic
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. cap — a lid
  6. hand — help
  7. sharp — clever
  8. hand — in cards
  9. spell — letters
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. season — in sport
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. scale — in music
  14. stem — to come from
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. spell — a short time
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. cap — a hat
  20. row — a line
  21. scale — size or range
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. cap — of ice

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