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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. row — a line
  3. dip — to sink
  4. club — for golf
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. mine — for digging
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. last — to go on
  11. march — the month
  12. club — a group
  13. club — for dancing
  14. clip — a video
  15. row — to paddle
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. last — finally
  18. season — of the year
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — for paper
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. season — in sport
  23. last — final
  24. mine — belonging to me

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