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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. season — of the year
  4. season — in sport
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — a coil
  7. squash — the sport
  8. mine — for digging
  9. squash — to crush
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. degree — an amount
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. degree — from a university
  16. chip — to eat
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. spring — of water
  21. degree — temperature
  22. wax — to grow
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. chip — for betting

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