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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. degree — from a university
  4. land — ground
  5. land — a country
  6. field — farmland
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. board — to get on
  9. suit — in cards
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. suit — to fit
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. chair — a leader
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. board — a committee
  16. season — in sport
  17. bat — the animal
  18. field — for sport
  19. suit — clothes
  20. field — a subject
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. land — to come down

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