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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. spring — of water
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. bass — low music
  5. ground — the earth
  6. ground — crushed
  7. court — of a king
  8. season — of the year
  9. cell — a phone
  10. cell — in biology
  11. ground — a position
  12. bass — the fish
  13. land — to come down
  14. ball — a great time
  15. spring — a coil
  16. court — of law
  17. spring — the season
  18. land — ground
  19. court — for sport
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. land — a country
  22. season — in sport
  23. ball — a dance
  24. bass — the instrument

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