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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. season — in sport
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. season — of the year
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. degree — from a university
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. spring — the season
  10. degree — temperature
  11. lean — thin
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. capital — a city
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — rain
  16. lean — to bend
  17. spring — a coil
  18. degree — an amount
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. shower — to wash
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — money
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. spring — of water

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