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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. bass — the fish
  3. season — of the year
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. last — to go on
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bound — tied together
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. clip — to cut
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. last — finally
  12. deal — to handle
  13. bound — certain
  14. last — final
  15. prune — to trim
  16. season — in sport
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. clip — a video
  20. rash — a series
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. rash — hasty
  23. bass — low music
  24. season — to add flavour

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