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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. prune — to trim
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — a leader
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. season — of the year
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. spell — letters
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. prune — to trim
  14. present — the time now
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. spell — magic
  17. spell — a short time
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. season — in sport
  20. mark — a grade
  21. present — a gift
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. present — there
  24. patient — a sick person

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