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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. field — farmland
  3. mark — a grade
  4. spring — the season
  5. saw — the tool
  6. season — of the year
  7. saw — the tool
  8. season — in sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. ground — the earth
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. ground — crushed
  13. cap — of ice
  14. spring — of water
  15. cap — a lid
  16. degree — an amount
  17. cap — a hat
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. mark — a trace
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — from a university
  22. field — for sport
  23. spring — a coil
  24. ground — a position

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