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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 King held a masked ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. ball — a dance
  3. season — in sport
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. clip — to cut
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. shower — to wash
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. spell — magic
  10. clip — a video
  11. shower — rain
  12. fine — all right
  13. fine — high quality
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. clip — for paper
  16. spell — a short time
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. spell — letters
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. ball — a great time
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. chair — a leader
  24. leaves — of a tree

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