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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. mug — to rob
  3. degree — from a university
  4. track — a path
  5. track — to keep track
  6. season — of the year
  7. track — a song
  8. face — to point toward
  9. last — finally
  10. clip — for paper
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. face — part of the head
  13. season — in sport
  14. mug — a face
  15. degree — temperature
  16. clip — to cut
  17. degree — an amount
  18. last — to go on
  19. clip — a video
  20. last — final
  21. mug — a cup
  22. face — to confront
  23. ball — a great time
  24. ball — a dance

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