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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. season — in sport
  3. season — of the year
  4. tube — the underground
  5. land — a country
  6. rest — what's left
  7. land — ground
  8. saw — the tool
  9. chest — of your body
  10. field — farmland
  11. rest — what's left
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. field — a subject
  15. rest — a break
  16. saw — the tool
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. field — for sport
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. land — to come down
  24. chest — a box

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