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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. mate — a partner
  4. season — of the year
  5. ground — a position
  6. season — in sport
  7. ground — crushed
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. last — to go on
  10. game — a match
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. ground — the earth
  14. mark — a trace
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mate — to breed
  18. game — wild animals
  19. sharp — clever
  20. mark — a grade
  21. mate — a friend
  22. last — final
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. last — finally

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