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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. bass — the fish
  3. season — in sport
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. rock — music
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. land — a country
  8. drill — army training
  9. cold — not warm
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. chair — a leader
  12. land — to come down
  13. land — ground
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. drill — the tool
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rock — a stone
  18. season — of the year
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. drill — a practice
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. bass — low music

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