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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. last — final
  3. bulb — for light
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. kick — in football
  6. ground — crushed
  7. land — ground
  8. club — for golf
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — a video
  12. ground — a position
  13. ground — the earth
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. bulb — for light
  16. club — for dancing
  17. land — a country
  18. club — a group
  19. last — to go on
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. season — in sport
  22. season — of the year
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. last — finally

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