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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. clip — to cut
  5. face — part of the head
  6. squash — to crush
  7. spell — magic
  8. cold — an illness
  9. spell — letters
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. squash — the sport
  12. mark — a grade
  13. season — of the year
  14. face — to point toward
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. face — to confront
  17. clip — for paper
  18. mark — a trace
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. spell — a short time
  22. cold — not warm
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. season — in sport

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