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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. clip — to cut
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. season — in sport
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. ground — the earth
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. field — farmland
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. ground — crushed
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. clip — for paper
  13. field — a subject
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. ground — a position
  16. rest — what's left
  17. clip — a video
  18. rest — what's left
  19. mark — a trace
  20. mark — a grade
  21. rest — a break
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. field — for sport
  24. season — of the year

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