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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 120 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. ground — crushed
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. tear — to rip
  5. band — a music group
  6. net — for catching
  7. net — in sport
  8. ground — the earth
  9. net — after costs
  10. band — a ring
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. season — of the year
  14. ground — a position
  15. season — in sport
  16. tear — from crying
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. perch — the fish
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. band — a rubber band

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