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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. prune — to trim
  3. season — of the year
  4. chair — a leader
  5. spell — magic
  6. file — a line of people
  7. pound — a weight
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. spell — a short time
  11. prune — to trim
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. spell — letters
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a tool
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. capital — a city
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. capital — money
  24. racket — for tennis

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