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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. mine — for digging
  3. track — a path
  4. stand — to bear
  5. kid — child
  6. season — in sport
  7. last — final
  8. track — a song
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — finally
  12. season — of the year
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. track — to keep track
  15. row — to paddle
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. row — a line
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. kid — to tease
  21. chip — for betting
  22. chip — to eat
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. stand — on your feet

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