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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. game — wild animals
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. land — ground
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. wound — an injury
  8. field — farmland
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. toast — bread
  11. season — in sport
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. land — to come down
  14. wound — an injury
  15. season — of the year
  16. land — a country
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — a contest
  19. field — a subject
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. game — a match
  22. field — for sport
  23. race — the arms race
  24. game — a kind of play

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