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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. cold — an illness
  3. clip — for paper
  4. band — a music group
  5. season — of the year
  6. fine — high quality
  7. cap — a hat
  8. row — to paddle
  9. vault — a safe
  10. cold — not warm
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. season — in sport
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. clip — a video
  17. cap — of ice
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. row — a line
  20. band — a ring
  21. clip — to cut
  22. fine — all right
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cap — a lid

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