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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. land — a country
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. season — of the year
  6. game — wild animals
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. capital — money
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. land — to come down
  12. capital — a city
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. land — ground
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. branch — a division
  18. game — a match
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. season — in sport
  22. sharp — clever
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. deal — to handle

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