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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 124 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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. present — the time now
  3. kid — child
  4. fine — all right
  5. kid — to tease
  6. present — there
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. land — ground
  9. file — a document
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. fine — high quality
  12. land — to come down
  13. season — of the year
  14. present — a gift
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. file — a tool
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. file — a line of people
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. land — a country
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. wake — a trail

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