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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. scale — size or range
  3. season — in sport
  4. mate — a friend
  5. march — the month
  6. present — the time now
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. swing — music
  10. march — the month
  11. mate — a partner
  12. season — of the year
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. swing — to play on
  16. cold — not warm
  17. field — farmland
  18. field — a subject
  19. march — music
  20. swing — in golf
  21. present — there
  22. scale — in music
  23. mate — to breed
  24. field — for 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