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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 116 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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — a country
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. sharp — clever
  7. mate — to breed
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. wind — moving air
  11. rest — what's left
  12. season — of the year
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rest — what's left
  15. land — ground
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. rest — a break
  18. pitch — completely
  19. mate — a partner
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. mate — a friend
  22. cold — not warm
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. sharp — exactly

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