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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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468
Word bank
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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. rest — a break
  3. net — after costs
  4. net — in sport
  5. squash — the sport
  6. season — of the year
  7. spring — of water
  8. squash — to crush
  9. land — to come down
  10. season — in sport
  11. march — music
  12. spring — a coil
  13. march — the month
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. rest — what's left
  16. band — a music group
  17. spring — the season
  18. march — the month
  19. land — ground
  20. net — for catching
  21. band — a ring
  22. land — a country
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. rest — what's left

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