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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. spring — the season
  3. clip — for paper
  4. key — in music
  5. season — in sport
  6. season — of the year
  7. spring — of water
  8. clip — a video
  9. key — for a lock
  10. spring — a coil
  11. clip — to cut
  12. key — the most important part
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — a division
  15. net — for catching
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. net — in sport
  19. race — humankind
  20. net — after costs
  21. race — the arms race
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. calf — a young animal

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