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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. key — in music
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. clip — for paper
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. clip — to cut
  8. march — the month
  9. wound — an injury
  10. degree — from a university
  11. march — the month
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. clip — a video
  14. rule — a law
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. key — the most important part
  17. march — music
  18. wound — an injury
  19. rule — government
  20. pitch — completely
  21. season — of the year
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — temperature
  24. key — for a lock

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