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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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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. squash — the sport
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. squash — to crush
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. date — the fruit
  9. chair — a leader
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. clip — to cut
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. stem — to come from
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. plane — a tool
  19. spring — a coil
  20. spring — the season
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — a video
  23. season — of the year
  24. spring — of water

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