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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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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 · perch · pass · hide · land · season · spell · wound

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. season — of the year
  5. club — for golf
  6. wound — an injury
  7. spell — letters
  8. wound — an injury
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. land — ground
  13. club — for dancing
  14. land — a country
  15. pass — a permit
  16. perch — the fish
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. land — to come down
  19. spell — magic
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. club — a group
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. spell — a short time
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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