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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. snap — to click
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. squash — to crush
  5. key — in music
  6. field — for sport
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cell — in biology
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. toast — bread
  15. key — for a lock
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — farmland
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. season — of the year
  20. cold — an illness
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. key — the most important part
  23. squash — the sport
  24. cold — not warm

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