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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. track — a path
  3. cell — a phone
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. track — a song
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. cell — in biology
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. season — in sport
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. court — for sport
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. court — of law
  15. bore — to tire
  16. track — to keep track
  17. wound — an injury
  18. capital — a city
  19. court — of a king
  20. capital — money
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bore — to drill

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