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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. field — farmland
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. mate — a partner
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. chip — to eat
  8. game — a match
  9. current — electric
  10. mate — to breed
  11. mate — a friend
  12. current — of water
  13. season — in sport
  14. ground — the earth
  15. wind — moving air
  16. current — happening now
  17. wind — moving air
  18. chip — for betting
  19. field — for sport
  20. ground — a position
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. ground — crushed
  23. field — a subject
  24. game — wild animals

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