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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. tear — from crying
  5. rush — hurry
  6. tear — to rip
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. can — to be able to
  9. tear — from crying
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. chair — a leader
  13. season — in sport
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. hand — in cards
  16. land — a country
  17. hand — help
  18. land — ground
  19. can — a tin
  20. can — a tin
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. land — to come down
  24. cabinet — ministers

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