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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. snap — to click
  3. field — farmland
  4. fine — high quality
  5. season — in sport
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. field — for sport
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. stand — to bear
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. saw — the tool
  14. field — a subject
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. saw — the tool
  17. fine — all right
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. ball — a great time
  20. season — of the year
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — an illness
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. ball — a dance

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