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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 ________________ the meat?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. hand — in cards
  3. spring — a coil
  4. scale — in music
  5. row — to paddle
  6. season — in sport
  7. foot — a measure
  8. spring — the season
  9. ground — a position
  10. hand — help
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. row — a line
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. season — of the year
  17. ground — crushed
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. ground — the earth
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. stand — to bear
  22. scale — size or range
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. spring — of water

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