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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. bass — low music
  3. net — for catching
  4. clip — a video
  5. file — a line of people
  6. land — to come down
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. file — a document
  9. land — a country
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. clip — to cut
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. clip — for paper
  14. season — in sport
  15. wax — to grow
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — after costs
  18. land — ground
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. file — a tool
  24. bass — the fish

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