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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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. can — a tin
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. can — a tin
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. pound — a weight
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. wind — moving air
  15. can — to be able to
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. hand — in cards
  19. band — a music group
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. bat — the animal
  22. band — a ring
  23. season — in sport
  24. bat — for baseball

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