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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. rock — music
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. ground — crushed
  5. land — to come down
  6. season — in sport
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. season — of the year
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. land — ground
  11. net — for catching
  12. ball — a great time
  13. mate — a friend
  14. land — a country
  15. chest — of your body
  16. ground — a position
  17. ball — a dance
  18. net — after costs
  19. mate — a partner
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. mate — to breed
  23. ground — the earth
  24. rock — a stone

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