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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — in sport
  3. net — after costs
  4. game — a match
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. game — wild animals
  7. net — in sport
  8. season — of the year
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. stand — to bear
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — for digging
  13. net — for catching
  14. row — to paddle
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. row — a line
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. shower — to wash
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. shower — rain

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