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

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — employees
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. spell — a short time
  6. clip — for paper
  7. staff — a stick
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — to cut
  10. spell — letters
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. last — final
  14. last — to go on
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. last — finally
  17. spell — magic
  18. leaves — to go away

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