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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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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. spell — magic
  4. court — of a king
  5. present — a gift
  6. court — of law
  7. present — the time now
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. tear — from crying
  10. season — of the year
  11. mark — a grade
  12. mark — a trace
  13. ground — a position
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. spell — a short time
  18. wound — an injury
  19. season — in sport
  20. tear — to rip
  21. spell — letters
  22. ground — crushed
  23. court — for sport
  24. ground — the earth

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