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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. spring — of water
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. charge — a price
  5. firm — decided
  6. firm — steady
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. field — farmland
  9. season — in sport
  10. spring — the season
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. field — for sport
  13. season — of the year
  14. wake — a trail
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. wound — an injury
  17. charge — electricity
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. firm — a company
  20. field — a subject
  21. squash — the sport
  22. squash — to crush
  23. wound — an injury
  24. charge — in control

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