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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. rock — music
  3. current — of water
  4. spring — of water
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. current — electric
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. pitch — completely
  9. cell — a phone
  10. date — the fruit
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. lie — to recline
  13. spring — a coil
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. season — in sport
  17. rock — a stone
  18. spring — the season
  19. current — happening now
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. cell — in biology
  24. date — on the calendar

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