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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 get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. clip — a video
  3. season — in sport
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. season — of the year
  6. spring — the season
  7. game — wild animals
  8. spring — of water
  9. court — for sport
  10. present — there
  11. clip — to cut
  12. present — the time now
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. spring — a coil
  17. cell — in biology
  18. court — of law
  19. cell — a phone
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. court — of a king
  22. clip — for paper
  23. game — a match
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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