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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. spring — the season
  5. staff — a stick
  6. date — the fruit
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to point toward
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. rush — hurry
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. mark — a trace
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. staff — employees
  17. face — to confront
  18. mark — a grade
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. spring — a coil
  22. season — in sport
  23. spring — of water
  24. staff — employees

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