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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. season — in sport
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. degree — temperature
  5. ground — a position
  6. season — of the year
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. ground — the earth
  9. prune — to trim
  10. mine — for digging
  11. rest — a break
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — an amount
  14. bulb — for light
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. rest — what's left
  17. cold — an illness
  18. prune — to trim
  19. bulb — for light
  20. cold — not warm
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. ground — crushed
  24. rest — what's left

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