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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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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. clip — a video
  3. scale — size or range
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. tear — from crying
  7. clip — to cut
  8. stock — shares
  9. saw — the tool
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. march — music
  12. tear — from crying
  13. season — of the year
  14. clip — for paper
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. march — the month
  18. stock — goods
  19. march — the month
  20. saw — the tool
  21. scale — in music
  22. tear — to rip
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. season — in sport

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