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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. pass — a permit
  3. spring — a coil
  4. field — a subject
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. field — for sport
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. spring — the season
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. field — farmland
  16. pit — a hole
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. date — the fruit
  19. season — of the year
  20. bear — the animal
  21. pit — in a race
  22. season — in sport
  23. cold — an illness
  24. spring — of water

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