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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 124 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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. ball — a great time
  4. field — for sport
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. field — farmland
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. key — for a lock
  10. march — the month
  11. key — the most important part
  12. season — in sport
  13. face — to confront
  14. ball — a dance
  15. face — part of the head
  16. tube — the underground
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. season — of the year
  19. tube — a container
  20. field — a subject
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. face — to point toward
  24. key — in music

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