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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. net — for catching
  3. chair — a leader
  4. season — in sport
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. stand — to bear
  9. net — after costs
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. track — a song
  14. track — a path
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. cold — an illness
  17. drill — the tool
  18. net — in sport
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. season — of the year
  22. track — to keep track
  23. drill — a practice
  24. drill — army training

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