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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. wound — an injury
  3. stand — to bear
  4. cap — a hat
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. kid — to tease
  8. season — in sport
  9. stock — goods
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. cap — of ice
  13. stock — shares
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. season — of the year
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. kid — child
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. toast — bread
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. cap — a lid

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