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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. spring — of water
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. net — for catching
  7. net — after costs
  8. season — in sport
  9. fine — all right
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wind — moving air
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. net — in sport
  14. fine — high quality
  15. race — a contest
  16. rest — a break
  17. spring — the season
  18. race — the arms race
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. wind — moving air
  21. race — humankind
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rest — what's left
  24. spring — a coil

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