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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  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. last — final
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. last — finally
  5. clip — for paper
  6. spell — a short time
  7. clip — a video
  8. last — to go on
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. shower — to wash
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. band — a music group
  15. spell — letters
  16. shower — rain
  17. band — a ring
  18. season — of the year
  19. branch — a division
  20. spell — magic
  21. clip — to cut
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  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