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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 124 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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468
Word bank
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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. key — in music
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — a coil
  7. clip — for paper
  8. spring — of water
  9. present — the time now
  10. present — there
  11. key — for a lock
  12. season — in sport
  13. ball — a great time
  14. present — a gift
  15. season — of the year
  16. snap — to click
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. ball — a dance
  19. race — humankind
  20. clip — to cut
  21. race — a contest
  22. key — the most important part
  23. race — the arms race
  24. clip — a video

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