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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. season — of the year
  3. season — in sport
  4. tube — the underground
  5. land — a country
  6. mark — a trace
  7. cue — a hint
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. bat — the animal
  10. mark — a grade
  11. spell — magic
  12. drill — army training
  13. land — to come down
  14. tube — a container
  15. spell — a short time
  16. drill — a practice
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. cue — a signal
  19. drill — the tool
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. cue — for pool
  22. spell — letters
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. season — to add flavour

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