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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. season — of the year
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. field — farmland
  7. land — ground
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. cold — an illness
  10. field — a subject
  11. rest — what's left
  12. mine — for digging
  13. rest — what's left
  14. season — in sport
  15. cap — a lid
  16. field — for sport
  17. land — to come down
  18. cap — of ice
  19. land — a country
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. cap — a hat
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. rest — a break

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