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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. season — in sport
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. season — of the year
  6. clip — to cut
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. content — happy
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. content — the amount
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — help
  18. clip — a video
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. stem — to come from
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. clip — for paper
  24. stem — of a plant

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