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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 120 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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. staff — a stick
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. season — in sport
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. bound — certain
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. bound — tied together
  13. sharp — clever
  14. rash — hasty
  15. scale — size or range
  16. rash — a series
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bound — obliged
  20. staff — employees
  21. staff — employees
  22. clip — to cut
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. scale — in music

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