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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. club — for dancing
  3. last — finally
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. net — after costs
  7. lean — to bend
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. chip — for betting
  10. last — to go on
  11. club — for golf
  12. club — a group
  13. season — in sport
  14. stem — to come from
  15. season — of the year
  16. spring — the season
  17. net — in sport
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. chip — to eat
  20. net — for catching
  21. last — final
  22. lean — thin
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — of water

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