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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 120 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. land — ground
  3. land — to come down
  4. mark — a grade
  5. season — of the year
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. scale — in music
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. season — in sport
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. board — a committee
  12. board — to get on
  13. mark — a trace
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. stock — shares
  16. kid — to tease
  17. land — a country
  18. hand — in cards
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. kid — child
  22. stock — goods
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. scale — size or range

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