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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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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. branch — a division
  5. lean — to bend
  6. craft — boats
  7. wind — moving air
  8. lean — thin
  9. cold — not warm
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. wind — moving air
  13. tube — the underground
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. craft — a skill
  19. cold — an illness
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. tube — a container
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. season — in sport

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