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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 hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. last — final
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. mate — a friend
  8. mate — a partner
  9. foot — a measure
  10. field — for sport
  11. last — finally
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cell — in biology
  14. mate — to breed
  15. season — in sport
  16. last — to go on
  17. cell — a phone
  18. field — a subject
  19. band — a music group
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. field — farmland
  23. band — a ring
  24. season — of the year

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