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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. prune — to trim
  3. season — of the year
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. pitch — completely
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. clip — for paper
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. cap — a lid
  10. season — in sport
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. prune — to trim
  14. capital — a city
  15. clip — a video
  16. capital — money
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cap — a hat
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. cap — of ice
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. clip — to cut
  24. wind — to turn a key

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