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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wound — an injury
  6. stem — to come from
  7. wound — an injury
  8. spring — the season
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. chip — for betting
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. spring — a coil
  14. season — of the year
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. cold — an illness
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. spring — of water
  22. chip — to eat
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. cold — not warm

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