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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. season — in sport
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. land — a country
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. rule — government
  9. cold — not warm
  10. field — for sport
  11. toast — bread
  12. field — a subject
  13. land — ground
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. rule — a law
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. season — of the year
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. field — farmland
  23. cold — an illness
  24. land — to come down

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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