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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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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. season — in sport
  3. cold — not warm
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. pop — music
  6. bound — obliged
  7. mine — for digging
  8. pop — soda
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. pop — to visit
  11. bound — tied together
  12. season — of the year
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — clever
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bound — certain
  20. pit — a hole
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. pit — in a race

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