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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: club · season · cap · tube · land · lie · dip · rash

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. season — of the year
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. club — for golf
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. club — for dancing
  7. tube — the underground
  8. season — in sport
  9. lie — to recline
  10. tube — a container
  11. cap — of ice
  12. rash — a series
  13. land — a country
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. land — ground
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. rash — hasty
  19. cap — a hat
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. cap — a lid
  22. dip — to sink
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. club — a group

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