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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. spell — magic
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. field — farmland
  7. spell — a short time
  8. last — final
  9. spell — letters
  10. rash — hasty
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. season — in sport
  13. mine — for digging
  14. last — finally
  15. object — an aim
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. object — a thing
  19. field — for sport
  20. last — to go on
  21. field — a subject
  22. season — of the year
  23. object — to protest
  24. rash — a series

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