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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. fine — high quality
  3. game — a match
  4. field — farmland
  5. key — the most important part
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. spell — letters
  8. field — a subject
  9. field — for sport
  10. spell — a short time
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. key — for a lock
  13. fine — all right
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. cold — not warm
  17. season — of the year
  18. game — wild animals
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. cold — an illness
  21. season — in sport
  22. key — in music
  23. branch — a division
  24. cold — the Cold War

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