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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. cap — a lid
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cap — of ice
  6. spring — the season
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. lean — thin
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. lean — to bend
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. spell — a short time
  14. spring — a coil
  15. mark — a grade
  16. season — of the year
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. spell — magic
  19. cap — a hat
  20. spell — letters
  21. mark — a trace
  22. mine — for digging
  23. cold — an illness
  24. spring — of water

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