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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 120 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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. branch — a division
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. spring — a coil
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. season — in sport
  8. spring — the season
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. saw — the tool
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. pop — music
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. spring — of water
  16. bat — the animal
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. pop — to visit
  20. saw — the tool
  21. kid — child
  22. pop — soda
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — for baseball

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