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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.

Make a worksheet

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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. clip — to cut
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. court — of law
  6. court — for sport
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. season — in sport
  11. drill — army training
  12. march — music
  13. season — of the year
  14. drill — a practice
  15. drill — the tool
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — for paper
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. court — of a king

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