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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. season — of the year
  6. bear — the animal
  7. field — for sport
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a line
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. cold — an illness
  17. field — farmland
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. cold — not warm
  20. kick — in football
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. cold — the Cold War

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