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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. swing — in golf
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — magic
  5. march — the month
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. swing — to play on
  8. swing — music
  9. pit — a hole
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. game — a match
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. march — the month
  14. season — in sport
  15. rash — hasty
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. rash — a series
  18. spell — a short time
  19. march — music
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. pit — in a race
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. wake — a trail
  24. game — wild animals

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