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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. chip — to eat
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. mate — to breed
  6. march — the month
  7. mate — a partner
  8. bear — the animal
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. tube — the underground
  11. bear — the animal
  12. mate — a friend
  13. season — in sport
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. game — a match
  16. chip — for betting
  17. season — of the year
  18. march — music
  19. cold — not warm
  20. march — the month
  21. tube — a container
  22. cold — an illness
  23. game — wild animals
  24. tube — in a tire

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