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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. suit — in cards
  3. season — of the year
  4. face — to confront
  5. suit — to fit
  6. band — a ring
  7. clip — for paper
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. clip — to cut
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to point toward
  19. suit — clothes
  20. mine — for digging
  21. clip — a video
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. season — in sport
  24. band — a music group

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