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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. season — of the year
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. ground — crushed
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cap — a hat
  8. root — of a word
  9. cap — of ice
  10. mine — for digging
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. ground — the earth
  14. tear — to rip
  15. ground — a position
  16. root — of a plant
  17. prune — to trim
  18. pitch — completely
  19. season — in sport
  20. prune — to trim
  21. root — the cause
  22. cap — a lid
  23. tear — from crying
  24. mine — belonging to me

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