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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  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. season — to add flavour
  2. rash — hasty
  3. squash — to crush
  4. season — in sport
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. row — to paddle
  7. clip — to cut
  8. last — to go on
  9. rash — a series
  10. clip — a video
  11. last — final
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. season — of the year
  14. row — a line
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. squash — the sport
  17. last — finally
  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