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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 124 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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  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 — of the year
  2. rule — government
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. field — a subject
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. rule — a law
  9. kid — child
  10. rash — hasty
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. shower — rain
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. field — for sport
  17. shower — to wash
  18. rash — a series
  19. field — farmland
  20. season — in sport
  21. kid — to tease
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — to trim

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