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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. clip — a video
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — ground
  6. prune — to trim
  7. swing — music
  8. clip — for paper
  9. swing — in golf
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. cold — not warm
  12. land — a country
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. key — in music
  15. season — of the year
  16. dip — to sink
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. cold — an illness
  19. swing — to play on
  20. season — in sport
  21. key — for a lock
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. prune — to trim
  24. clip — to cut

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