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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. season — of the year
  3. wound — an injury
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. last — final
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. fork — in a road
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. race — the arms race
  11. rule — government
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. wound — an injury
  14. race — humankind
  15. last — finally
  16. rule — a law
  17. last — to go on
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. season — in sport

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