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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 116 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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468
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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. prune — to trim
  3. fall — to drop
  4. season — in sport
  5. present — the time now
  6. fine — all right
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. bound — certain
  9. present — there
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. fall — to drop
  12. present — a gift
  13. bound — obliged
  14. court — of a king
  15. court — of law
  16. prune — to trim
  17. fine — high quality
  18. season — of the year
  19. land — a country
  20. fall — the season
  21. land — ground
  22. bound — tied together
  23. court — for sport
  24. land — to come down

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