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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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Word bank
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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. mark — a grade
  3. cue — a signal
  4. cold — an illness
  5. season — in sport
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rash — a series
  8. season — of the year
  9. fine — all right
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cue — for pool
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. cue — a hint
  14. saw — the tool
  15. rash — hasty
  16. fine — high quality
  17. saw — the tool
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — farmland
  21. mark — a trace
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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