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

Word bank: season · pit · mate · cold · kick · rule · wave · field

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. mate — to breed
  3. pit — in a race
  4. season — in sport
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. season — of the year
  9. mate — a partner
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. pit — a hole
  15. rule — a law
  16. mate — a friend
  17. rule — government
  18. kick — in football
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. field — a subject
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. field — for sport
  24. cold — an illness

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