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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 116 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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. season — of the year
  4. staff — a stick
  5. clip — to cut
  6. shower — to wash
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. ball — a great time
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. ball — a dance
  12. staff — employees
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. season — in sport
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. clip — a video
  17. shower — rain
  18. clip — for paper

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