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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. pop — to visit
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. cold — an illness
  5. season — in sport
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. pop — music
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. season — of the year
  12. lean — to bend
  13. lean — thin
  14. cold — not warm
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. pop — soda
  19. spell — letters
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. spell — magic
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. spell — a short time
  24. fan — a supporter

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