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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. clip — a video
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. kid — to tease
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. stand — to bear
  17. clip — for paper
  18. kid — child
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. clip — to cut
  22. season — in sport
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. stand — on your feet

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