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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. prune — to trim
  4. file — a line of people
  5. spring — of water
  6. rule — government
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. prune — to trim
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. rule — a law
  11. season — in sport
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. chair — a leader
  14. spring — a coil
  15. cell — in biology
  16. band — a ring
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. band — a music group
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a tool
  22. spring — the season
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cell — in a prison

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