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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. season — of the year
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. mark — a grade
  7. court — of a king
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to confront
  10. court — of law
  11. shower — to wash
  12. field — for sport
  13. bore — to tire
  14. face — to point toward
  15. bore — to drill
  16. mark — a trace
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. shower — rain
  19. bat — the animal
  20. court — for sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — a subject
  23. season — in sport
  24. bore — gave birth

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