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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: row · cold · staff · net · spell · cap · date · season

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. cold — not warm
  3. net — in sport
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cap — a lid
  6. spell — letters
  7. row — to paddle
  8. season — of the year
  9. net — for catching
  10. net — after costs
  11. row — a line
  12. season — in sport
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. date — the fruit
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cap — of ice
  18. staff — a stick
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. spell — magic
  22. spell — a short time
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. staff — employees

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