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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — in sport
  3. file — a tool
  4. dip — to sink
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. bulb — for light
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. file — a document
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. chair — a leader
  18. march — the month
  19. fork — in a road
  20. bulb — for light
  21. march — music
  22. file — a line of people
  23. march — the month
  24. bat — the animal

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