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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 116 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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. race — the arms race
  3. court — of law
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — an injury
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. spring — a coil
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. court — for sport
  11. season — in sport
  12. stand — to bear
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. drill — a practice
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. spring — the season
  17. race — a contest
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — army training
  20. spring — of water
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. court — of a king
  23. race — humankind
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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