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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 116 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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. wound — an injury
  5. club — for dancing
  6. deal — to handle
  7. clip — for paper
  8. dip — to sink
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. season — in sport
  12. clip — to cut
  13. root — of a plant
  14. root — the cause
  15. club — for golf
  16. sharp — clever
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. club — a group
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. wound — an injury
  22. clip — a video
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. root — of a word

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