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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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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. snap — to click
  4. season — in sport
  5. mate — a partner
  6. mate — to breed
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. mate — a friend
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cold — an illness
  12. spring — the season
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. season — of the year
  16. spring — a coil
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. rush — hurry
  19. spring — of water
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. prune — to trim
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. prune — to trim

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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