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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. sharp — clever
  3. charge — electricity
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. season — in sport
  6. row — a line
  7. face — to confront
  8. charge — in control
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. cold — an illness
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. row — to paddle
  14. cold — not warm
  15. land — to come down
  16. face — to point toward
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. dip — to sink
  20. land — ground
  21. charge — a price
  22. face — part of the head
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. land — a country

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