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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. ground — the earth
  4. season — in sport
  5. season — of the year
  6. ball — a dance
  7. clip — to cut
  8. wax — to grow
  9. current — happening now
  10. game — wild animals
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. current — electric
  13. current — of water
  14. ground — crushed
  15. ground — a position
  16. game — a match
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. track — to keep track
  20. clip — a video
  21. track — a song
  22. ball — a great time
  23. track — a path
  24. wax — for sculpting

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