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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. staff — a stick
  3. season — of the year
  4. bear — the animal
  5. last — to go on
  6. net — after costs
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. squash — to crush
  9. bound — certain
  10. staff — employees
  11. bear — the animal
  12. net — in sport
  13. bound — tied together
  14. staff — employees
  15. squash — the sport
  16. kid — to tease
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. last — final
  19. kid — child
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. bound — obliged
  22. last — finally
  23. net — for catching
  24. squash — the vegetable

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