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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 116 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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. band — a music group
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. wind — moving air
  7. squash — the sport
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. wind — moving air
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. snap — to click
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. band — a ring
  15. clip — to cut
  16. court — for sport
  17. pit — in a race
  18. clip — a video
  19. squash — to crush
  20. pit — a hole
  21. clip — for paper
  22. court — of law
  23. court — of a king
  24. season — in sport

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