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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. wound — an injury
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. pass — a permit
  6. pound — a weight
  7. season — of the year
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. cold — not warm
  11. tube — the underground
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. field — for sport
  14. cold — an illness
  15. field — farmland
  16. wound — an injury
  17. field — a subject
  18. tube — a container
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. rash — hasty
  24. season — in sport

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