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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  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. mate — to breed
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. mate — a partner
  5. march — the month
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. clip — to cut
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. season — of the year
  11. cold — not warm
  12. content — happy
  13. march — the month
  14. mate — a friend
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. clip — for paper
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. clip — a video
  21. march — music
  22. cold — an illness
  23. content — the amount
  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