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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. cap — of ice
  3. spring — a coil
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. cap — a lid
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. spring — the season
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. season — in sport
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. chair — a leader
  13. game — a match
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. spring — of water
  16. season — of the year
  17. field — farmland
  18. field — a subject
  19. game — wild animals
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. deal — to handle
  23. field — for sport
  24. cap — a hat

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