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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: rest · season · ground · game · pop · cell · march · tear

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. rest — what's left
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. pop — to visit
  5. season — in sport
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. ground — crushed
  9. tear — from crying
  10. game — wild animals
  11. game — a match
  12. cell — in biology
  13. march — the month
  14. march — the month
  15. pop — soda
  16. season — of the year
  17. rest — a break
  18. pop — music
  19. rest — what's left
  20. ground — a position
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — a phone
  23. march — music
  24. season — to add flavour

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