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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. field — a subject
  3. season — in sport
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. last — finally
  6. wind — moving air
  7. land — ground
  8. firm — a company
  9. snap — to click
  10. wind — moving air
  11. season — of the year
  12. rash — a series
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — for sport
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. last — final
  17. last — to go on
  18. firm — steady
  19. rash — hasty
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. firm — decided
  23. land — a country
  24. land — to come down

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