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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — in sport
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. net — after costs
  5. spring — a coil
  6. present — a gift
  7. spring — the season
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. net — for catching
  10. kid — to tease
  11. net — in sport
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. spring — of water
  16. board — a committee
  17. present — there
  18. board — to get on
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. present — the time now
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. kid — child
  23. mine — for digging
  24. season — to add flavour

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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