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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. season — of the year
  3. bound — obliged
  4. season — in sport
  5. rock — a stone
  6. present — there
  7. rock — music
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. squash — to crush
  10. bound — tied together
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. present — a gift
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. clip — a video
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. clip — to cut
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. squash — the sport
  19. bound — certain
  20. clip — for paper
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. present — the time now
  24. game — a match

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