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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. pop — to visit
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. fall — to drop
  6. pop — music
  7. row — a line
  8. charge — in control
  9. last — to go on
  10. last — final
  11. pop — soda
  12. season — of the year
  13. bat — the animal
  14. fall — the season
  15. row — to paddle
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. charge — a price
  21. charge — electricity
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. last — finally
  24. bat — for baseball

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