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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. shower — to wash
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. cue — for pool
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. lie — to recline
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. scale — size or range
  12. cue — a signal
  13. scale — in music
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. game — a match
  17. pound — a weight
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. game — wild animals
  20. cue — a hint
  21. season — in sport
  22. capital — a city
  23. shower — rain
  24. capital — money

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