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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. game — wild animals
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ground — crushed
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. rash — hasty
  8. ground — the earth
  9. game — a match
  10. rash — a series
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. clip — to cut
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. lean — thin
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. season — in sport
  19. root — of a plant
  20. ball — a dance
  21. season — of the year
  22. root — the cause
  23. lean — to bend
  24. root — of a word

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