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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. season — of the year
  4. content — the amount
  5. spring — of water
  6. object — to protest
  7. march — music
  8. object — an aim
  9. row — a line
  10. plane — a tool
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. mark — a grade
  13. season — in sport
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. content — happy
  16. row — to paddle
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. spring — a coil
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. spring — the season
  21. march — the month
  22. march — the month
  23. mark — a trace
  24. object — a thing

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