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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 116 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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. spring — of water
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. field — for sport
  5. saw — the tool
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. can — a tin
  8. fine — high quality
  9. cold — an illness
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. spring — the season
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — a subject
  15. can — to be able to
  16. cold — not warm
  17. saw — the tool
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. spring — a coil
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. can — a tin
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. fine — a penalty

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