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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. land — to come down
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. chair — a leader
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. kid — to tease
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. land — ground
  13. swing — music
  14. kid — child
  15. march — music
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — to play on
  18. march — the month
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. march — the month
  21. land — a country
  22. ball — a great time
  23. ball — a dance
  24. season — in sport

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