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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. clip — a video
  5. root — of a word
  6. mate — a friend
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. root — of a plant
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. mug — to rob
  11. clip — for paper
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. mug — a face
  14. deal — to handle
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. file — a tool
  17. root — the cause
  18. file — a document
  19. clip — to cut
  20. file — a line of people
  21. mate — a partner
  22. mug — a cup
  23. season — of the year
  24. mate — to breed

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